Fog over Dartmouth
by Milk40
Summary: Bella and Edward leave Forks to go to college in New England, accompanied by the whole coven. We enter in a world of romance and mystery where the 2 vampires discover that life as students can be very eventful. My sequel to Breaking Dawn. My take on the Cullen family. Rated T because the vampires from the books are not letting anyone see what's going on in their bedrooms...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: all the characters from the Twilight saga featured in this fiction are the property of Stephenie Meyer.**

Fog over Dartmouth

Prologue

The year is 2009. The month is September. Bella has been living in a fairy tale for the last two and a half years, but has realized there is a world outside of the Olympic Peninsula. Although she has all the time in the world to enjoy life with her beloved Edward, her precious Renesmee and the rest of her family, she knows that every passing day puts her in greater danger of exposure. Nessie has grown up to become more like an eight year old schoolgirl and less of the preschooler she is supposed to be. Bella is confined to her cottage and to the Cullens'house, because if she takes her daughter with her to visit Charlie in town, she might run into the friends that are still oblivious of her past ordeal. To all the people living in Forks, the Police Chief Swan's daughter has been gone for three years, moved to New Hampshire with her new husband Edward Cullen right after her honeymoon, and become a student at Dartmouth College.

As much as Bella is happy with her life, she knows that the moment has come to leave the West Coast behind her. Dartmouth was meant to happen after all. Besides, moving from one place to another has been the price the Cullens have had to pay for almost one hundred years. Bella would just need to get used to it…and to the fact that her family was not the only one who had secrets.

Chapter one

Getting ready for college

**BPOV**

It had taken us less than a week to settle in that house I'd heard about so many times during the last few months, after it'd become obvious that our days of living in Forks were numbered. The property owned by Carlisle and Esme in the forest surrounding Hanover was not just a house, it was a mansion! I thought I'd seen it all with the white manor I was so accustomed to back in Washington State. How far was I from reality when I dared to think about it!

Yes, even in the deepest happiness that I was experiencing ever since I knew that nothing bad would ever happen to us again, I had been thinking of what I might be missing as a counterpart. So here I was now, preparing our bedroom in the principal residence of a domain that was a compound of at least seven buildings! I had the feeling it would take me an eternity to find my way through it, which, of course, had not the same meaning for me than it had for, say, my fellow classmates at Dartmouth.

Speaking of my soon to meet classmates, I was almost sure I would do very poorly compared to them. I had the impression College would not be a picnic to me. After being a vampire for three years, I had realized that my brain was somehow a lot more effective than it had been prior to my transformation, but I could still not measure up to Edward and all the knowledge he had come to accumulate in his mind over the years. I would never be able to catch up with him unless I asked him to take an academic break of 90 years. Which I wouldn't, because I needed him to be here with me in more ways than just one.

For one thing, I needed him to tutor me so I can compete with all the geeks I would see on a daily basis.

I also needed him because he was a good liar and he would be the one who would make our story believable. Because even though we now were a married couple, that is not what we would be telling around here. Edward was after all supposed to be only 17, and I had been changed at the dawn of my 19th birthday. Neither could we present Renesmee as our own daughter, because she now looked like a second or third grader, so she was going to pose as Carlisle and Esme's. We could only hope that no one would be too curious about our family situation. Other than that, nothing was really different from what it had been in Forks, except that Alice and Jasper would not be joining us until after Christmas. Rosalie, on the other hand, could never be away from Renesmee for more than the duration of a hunting trip. She'd been fully expecting to be part of the Dartmouth adventure as well. Needless to say, Emmett was more than happy with her decision to follow us all the way to New England. He would never miss an occasion to make fun of me. Some old habits die hard… In fact, the only one left behind was Jacob. He had made a promise to come join us, but his father just needed him too much at La Push. His diabetes was getting a toll on him; he was going blind. To be honest, try as he might, Emmett could not find much in me to laugh about these days. And that was another reason why I needed Edward around me more than ever. The Bella I had become was too gorgeous not to be noticed by a bunch of undergraduate guys, as absorbed in their subjects as they would probably be. Edward would stand as a reminder that I was already involved. With him around, I was pretty sure no one would dare to cross the line that separates friendly talk from flirtation. But should they try, and they would be good for some frightening moments in my company. Or maybe not. I had to keep a low profile. It would be easier for me than it must have been for Edward when I was a constant temptation to him, in another life.

Last but not least, I would need Edward to motivate me through that first year of college. To get accepted at Dartmouth was very prestigious, and Charlie had been ecstatic about it, but I still felt like a cheater. I was certain that the only reason I could be a student here was because the Cullens had made a generous donation to the College in return. But I was determined to make them proud of me no matter what, even if the courses I had to take were not my forte. I was in no obligation to major in sciences, but I still needed to attend some math and physics classes during that first year.

I sat still on the bed for a moment to memorize my schedule. The process of memorization itself took me less than 5 seconds, but I froze at the sudden thought that Edward was finally having his way, even if later than he'd anticipated. Had he known from the beginning that we would end up on the East Coast?

Edward was not Alice. He couldn't see the future. And yet here he was, preparing himself for the coming semester with serenity and even some kind of excitement. We were definitely not on the same page today. The prospect of more calculus and physics was not going to put a smile on my face, and Edward knew me all too well to think otherwise.

With a bit of concentration I could have lifted my protective shield and let him read my thoughts, but I still held on to my private mind most of the time, and I liked it much too much when he was looking at me with question marks in his golden eyes like he was right now. I could never get enough of him trying to figure me out.

"What is wrong, love?" He asked me after a moment of contemplating my unusual stillness.

"Same old same, and maybe worse, actually," I answered him in a low voice.

"Bella, if you're about to tell me again that you are afraid of failing your courses, I can assure you it's not going to happen." His voice sounded reassuring, indeed.

"Three years ago I would have agreed with you, Edward. But that calculus from my senior year in Forks, it's a blur now to me. I'm afraid I'll have to start from scratch…"

My voice broke on the last sentence. Every time I thought about that last year in high school, my now silent heart would still sting from the memories of days I wished to forget. Three years after having been turned into a vampire, my days as a mortal were like a blur. However, I knew some of it was not just a result of my new acute lucidity. Edward and I never talked about those months when he had left me, but I had lived them nevertheless. And all I could remember from the weeks after my 18th birthday till the day I had emerged among the livings were my nightmares.

"We will start from scratch if it's what it takes, darling. Don't worry about it."

Edward sat beside me on the bed and put one finger under my chin to force me to look him up in the eyes. My marble body started to liquefy. For a reason that was beyond my comprehension, Edward's empire over me was growing more powerful with every passing day. I could never help but being mesmerized by him. That thought brought back a smile on my face.

"There, see? That's much better," he continued. "Plus it's not like we have only math and physics on our schedule. We also have astronomy with Professor Letourneux. That ought to be easy, don't you think?"

I smiled wider. Astronomy. Planets and stars. Right. I didn't know much about that, but I had seen "Contact" when I was 10, and for a while I had imagined myself as the one who would make a trip on that spaceship featured in the movie.

"Edward, you do realize that none of this stuff would ever appeal to me if you were not enrolled with me, don't you?"

"Yes, Bella, but you said a few months ago that if you were to leave the Olympic Peninsula, it wouldn't be to get lost in some remote place. That's why I had to talk you back into going to college. You have no idea how happy I am about returning myself, only with you around this time."

He was right, of course, and I couldn't argue with him anymore. So I grabbed him and made him fall on the bed with me.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: all the characters from the Twilight saga are owned by Stephenie Meyer.**

Chapter 2

First Day on Campus

**BPOV**

The morning was here already making me regret that one of my mandatory subjects was so early. Obviously, the lack of sleep had nothing to do with it, since I didn't need to sleep at all.

I was used to distracting myself with Edward in ways that were not compatible with a college student's rigid routine. It was always hard to get free from his arms after our restless nights of overwhelming passion.

Fortunately for us, our little Renesmee was not a demanding child. As soon as she woke up, she headed down to the kitchen to have her breakfast fixed by Esme and Rosalie. It seemed to me that the pretence was going a little too far. Esme, who could pass for the real mother for once, should have been in charge of Nessie's meal, and Rosalie could have come over later on. But, apparently it was too much to expect from Rosalie. So even if she lived in one of the renovated houses of the compound a mile west of the principal residence, she was there first thing in the morning everyday. I couldn't complain, though. It was very generous of Rosalie to take care of her niece, not that she would want it any other way. As much as I loved my daughter, Rosalie had a special bond with her. Maybe it was because she had wanted to have a baby for almost eighty years. Renesmee had been the baby she had been waiting for all those years. Esme was grateful towards Rosalie as well; not having to occupy the little girl gave her time to improve the other buildings of the property.

It had also been a relief for us to see that Renesmee was not fussy about meals. She had always been aware of the fact that she was not exactly like the rest of the Cullen family and she was actually a bit smug about her being special. Back in Forks, I had made it a priority for her to see her grandpa Charlie on a regular basis so she could eat human food without being singled out. Shortly after the visit of the Volturi to put our coven on trial, Sue Clearwater had moved in with my dad, so I knew that Nessie had been well fed during her visits. It all had changed during the past few months when we couldn't go in town anymore.

I was still thinking about our precipitated departure while dressing for college.

The Cullens had never stayed in a specific place for as long as they had in Forks. Carlisle had been working at the hospital for seven years, minus the 6 months he and his family had spent in Ithaca. After all these years, though he was supposed to be around 35, he still looked 10 years younger, to say the least. Suspicions had started to rise in the community. We could know with certainty because Edward had gone for runs in the woods near the town limits in search of inquisitive thoughts, and doing so, he had heard some disturbing conversations:

"_I met doctor Cullen's wife the other day at the hardware store, and I swear she looks just the same she did when they had arrived here…"_

"_Doctor Cullen took care of my wound today in the emergency room. I thought by the time I was going to be old enough to get noticed he would look like my dad, but not at all…You should have seen him, he is so hot!" _

"_Maybe the Cullens have so much money because they invented a cure against aging…"_

"_Hey! Jessica, you will never guess who I almost ran into last weekend when I was hiking with my dad in the Goat Rocks Wilderness."_

"_Well tell me then. You look like you're about to puke."_

"_I did puke when I saw them. It was awful!"_

"_Damn it! Who did you see Mike?"_

"_I saw Emmett and Edward Cullen, they were not following the path, they were deep into the woods."_

"_So what? They were visiting their adoptive parents and decided to go hunting. Big deal! It's open season, you know."_

"_They were not hunting animals, Jessica, they were feeding on them! Emmett was after a bear and I think I saw Edward fighting with a cougar. The noise they made, it was horrifying! I am sure the only reason they didn't notice me was because that noise was too loud and they were too self absorbed in their carnage. I ran the other way and stopped only at the car. My dad thought I had an encounter with a grizzly."_

"_You don't know what you saw, Mike. You just told me they were in the forest. How well could you see what they were doing?"_

"_I am telling you, Jessica, it was the noise that gave them away. And as far from them as I may have been, I recognized them by the color of their skin, even whiter than I ever remembered."_

That had been our cue to move. In the end, it had not been the fact that we didn't age that had exposed us; it was a simple hunting trip near Mount Rainier.

"I'll be waiting for you in the car," Edward whispered in my ear. He was by my side and looking at my reflection in the mirror of my vanity chest.

"Not too nervous about that linear algebra class?" He asked me. He must have noticed that I was not especially joyful at the moment. He saw everything when it came to me.

"Well, it's not like a little of linear algebra could kill me," I said sarcastically, "but, thanks anyway for your concerns."

"You look great by the way," and he was gone.

I didn't follow him right behind because I wanted to put on some makeup to try to conceal the shadows under my eyes and add some color to my face. If looking like a photoshop model on the cover of a fashion magazine was my goal, I had reached it when I left the room.

**EPOV**

The campus of Dartmouth had not changed much since the sixties which was the last time I had been a student here. I could see the upgrades that had been done out of our numerous donations though and I was pleased.

Standing in the middle of the Dartmouth Green, I had an almost peripheral view that allowed me to see all the buildings, old and new. On my left I could identify the Hopkins Center for the Arts, even if it wasn't there 45 years ago. It was a multi-disciplinary cultural complex that reminded the style of the Lincoln Center, only smaller. Just next to the Hopkins Center was the Hanover Inn, and facing me were the Collis Center, the Robinson Hall, the McNutt Hall, the Parkhurst Hall and the Blunt Alumni Center. Most of them were familiar to me, except for the last one, more contemporary. To my right was the Baker-Berry Library, actually the biggest complex on the campus. Finally, closer to me was the Webster Hall. If I turned around just a little, I could continue my inventory, another two seconds to spare, but Bella was heading towards me with a disoriented look. It was, after all, her first time around.

"Edward, why are you playing the statue of a Greek God in the middle of nowhere instead of leading me to the right place? Our class starts in five minutes and we have to keep a normal pace to get there."

I suppressed a smile at the thought of Bella and I being late for our first course and therefore getting all the attention of the other students. Not the worst thing that could happen, but still. While on our way, walking slower than necessary, really, I thought of the advantages of being the two of us all the time that we were going to spend on campus. We were definitely going to be able to limit the interactions with our classmates to a strict minimum.

I could never forget the first day Bella was in biology and left without no other alternative than to sit at my table. I had almost been on the verge of committing a mass murder that day. It had been as nerve-racking an experience as it had been unexpected. I had been a high school sophomore, junior, senior more times than I cared to remember. I had been an undergraduate, graduate, post graduate student even more. What had happened in Bella's presence had never happened to me before, and would never happen again, hopefully.

We were almost at the front of the building where our linear algebra class was taught. I didn't know if it was going to be in a regular classroom or in an auditorium, but I knew the subject already. I was enrolled here only to spend the most time possible with my wife and to make sure that the male students would leave her alone. Bella had been able to control her temper and her thirst from the very beginning of her life as an immortal, but who knew how she would react surrounded by that amount of humans? Humans who meant nothing to her. I wouldn't save any of them from an out of control van, but I would stand between Bella and her prey if it came to that.

"Here we are," I said when I was sure the door I was about to open had the number that was indicated on our schedule. Being inconspicuous also meant that we needed to seem a little confused about our way around the campus. So I took another look at my schedule to play the part for the benefit of the group that had now formed in the hallway.

"Edward, I think you are blocking the way to our classroom," Bella pointed out. She was obviously enjoying herself a lot with my acting.

At last we made it to the row of seats in the back. No matter how far from the smart board we decided to be, it wouldn't make any difference for us, what with our visual abilities that permitted us to see the multiple faces of the dust particles floating in the air. The equations already written down on the board were racing towards me. The teacher could even give his lecture in total darkness for all we cared. It would just remind me of yet another electrical moment with Bella in Mr. Banner's class, when he had decided to put the entire attendance to sleep by showing us a movie about genetic disorders. Lorenzo's oil. As if I could forget. If I were not a vampire, I wouldn't remember a single line of the script. Bella did not. If I were to ask her today what that movie was about, she would be at a loss. Not just because her human memory had faded, but because the whole time she was concentrating on keeping her hands to herself while at the same time craving to reach for me. I knew because I had experienced the same feeling. Only unlike Bella, there was still plenty of room in my brain to process whatever was presented on the old television screen.

We didn't have time for small talk before the class begin, which was fine by me. I decided to distract myself by listening to the thoughts among the assembly.

"_Thank God it's a new teacher! I don't want to fail that course one more time…"_

"_I wonder if that clown is going to grade our homework…"_

"_I knew this was going to be too complicated for me…"_

"_Well at least you are going to replay all that gibberish for me tonight."_

I glimpsed at Bella for a fraction of a second. She didn't move but she was all smiles. She had let go of her shield to get my full attention and to keep me from eavesdropping. Oh little devilish wife of mine! But all the same, I still needed to check that no one had noticed us, or that if someone had, they weren't suspicious.

"_Oh my! Am I the only one here who has my eyes on that chick over there?"_

That was not a way to think about any female student in the classroom! It was lame at best, plain disrespectful at worst. After the class was over, I was going to find the larva who had dared to use that kind of language and teach him a lesson of my own about good manners in the company of ladies. Well, that was what I wanted to do, but of course I wasn't going to. For one thing, I would scare the hell out of the guy, who probably didn't know better than using a poor vocabulary to express, after all, admiration. For another, if I was to, indeed, teach good manners to all the scumbags enrolled at Dartmouth, I would not have time for anything else, night time included. It would be a revival of my vigilante years, just to a lesser extent. All I could do was to go ask the dean to change the admission policies.

But I was curious now. I wanted to see the student the boy was thinking about for myself. It was not Bella; she was still like a stone except for a slight movement of her writing hand.

I had already counted the ten girls and the thirty boys in the assembly. I had already been showed the girl from every angle by at least half of those thirty boys. It took me only a second to find her. She was not very far from us but still a couple of rows closer to the stage, so I could observe her without her being aware of it. She was about twenty years old, with brown hair in a pony tail. She seemed very thin and fragile. She also looked a lot like Audrey Hepburn, an actress very popular in the fifties and the sixties. Odd enough, even stranger was the fact that her mind, like Bella's, was mute to me.

If my heart had still been beating, it would have stopped right there.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: the characters from the Twilight saga that are featured in this story are the property of Stephenie Meyer.**

Chapter 3

Family

**EPOV**

With all the experience that Carlisle had acquired in medicine over the past 250 years, it was quite ironic to think that any forged reference used to get him a teacher position in a medical school, as praising as it was, could never reflect the actual range of his knowledge and competence, as a professor and a doctor.

And this was without even taking all his research work into consideration, or the numerous times when he had returned to medical school as a student to catch up with the newest discoveries, theories and techniques now commonly used in state of the art medical facilities all over the country. The last of such learning journeys had been in Harvard during the late eighties.

At Dartmouth, Carlisle was teaching anatomy and histology three days a week. He was sharing the rest of his time between the emergency room of Hanover General Hospital and the restorations on the property that he had bought with Esme in the fifties. It was fundamental that the compound become as functional as possible, as quick as possible. It was the place where we had to raise Renesmee, and where she would spend most of her time until she was all grown up. In 3 years, 4 at most, she would look like a young adult, and would stay that way forever. She would then have the possibility to mix in with the population of the city as a student, either in high school or college. But I was deeply convinced that the level of her knowledge, in 3 years, would allow her to access college right through.

Our first day on campus came and went without any incident to report, except for the unexpected encounter with a student whose thoughts I couldn't access any better than Bella's. This fact had made me anxious to go find Carlisle and tell him about the strange phenomenon. But that first day of class was also a day Carlisle was on the campus, teaching anatomy in the afternoon. Therefore, I spent many hours making tremendous efforts to not let Bella see the concern on my face, and get stressed out for nothing. After all, even if during my 90 years of existence as a vampire Bella had been the only person whose thoughts I couldn't read it did not mean that there were no other humans on the planet with an inaccessible brain. It just meant that I had never met one of them. I really needed to ask Carlisle's opinion.

When the afternoon was coming to an end, I explained to Bella that I had to talk to Carlisle about something and that she should go home without me. She pouted but didn't argue. She was already missing our daughter and also wanted to start studying in preparation for the next day.

I had stopped worrying about Bella's safety a while ago, since the moment she had opened her eyes two days after I had been forced to inject a syringe of my venom in her heart, to be specific. Bella's gift, her shield, was more potent in matter of defense than all of the Volturi's and their guard's gifts combined. Her power had played in our favor and it was because of it that we could continue to live today the same existence that we had in the past. No, to be truthful, when Bella had entered my life, she had given it a meaning, a purpose that wasn't there before, and to my family as well. I was still wondering everyday how I had endured my life without her. Well, that was it. It hadn't been a life; it had been just a long stretch of time to endure. Bella had arrived in Forks, and suddenly I had had a life. She was all I had wanted, waited for, and she fulfilled me in all possible and imaginable ways. She would never stop to amaze me, for lack of a better, stronger word.

That thought should have comforted me, but I knew I still looked preoccupied when I knocked at Carlisle's office door in one of the new buildings I had noticed during my morning inventory. Carlisle didn't seem surprised to see me there. I could see in his thoughts that my behavior reminded him of the far away days when I had come to him after realizing that Bella's presence in Forks could lead me to commit the unforgivable act of draining all of her blood to quench my thirst of her. How things were different now!

"Carlisle, something strange happened this morning," I told him without any other introduction.

As it was the case most of the time during our conversations, Carlisle answered me in his head. _"What is it about, son? You look like you have seen a ghost…"_

Well, my poker face had definitely failed me today.

"It was in the linear algebra class that it happened. There was another student, apart from Bella, whose mind I couldn't read," I said in a low voice.

"_Yes, it is strange indeed,"_ was all my father could answer. He seemed more curious than shocked, though. And then he added _"However, I think that there must be a rational biological explanation behind what you experienced today. That student might have a condition…" _

I interrupted him, "Why would you think that? Why would she be a different case?"

After thinking about it for a minute, Carlisle asked me out loud, "Did you notice something else about that student?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I did. And this is where it becomes yet more bizarre. That young lady, I couldn't smell her either. I couldn't track her down if I were blind."

"Well that is interesting," Carlisle answered, "I would be curious to analyze her blood. There must be an alteration in it that makes it odorless."

I could recognize Carlisle the scientist when he spoke like that. I replied, "If that young woman has a mutation that makes her blood odorless, she doesn't know her luck." I was referring to the fact that human blood being the most difficult thing to resist for our kind because of its appealing smell, an odorless blood was an undeniable form of protection.

For obvious reasons, living in a place surrounded by mouthwatering humans was not the ideal condition for us; it was actually extremely masochistic somehow, but it was the price to pay to live a "normal" life. As normal a life as it could be for us, that is. Thankfully, having been with Bella before her changing, when her blood was like my own brand of heroin, I could now walk by any given mortal without even a twitch of my nose. My control was almost limitless. Almost.

I heard Carlisle resume our conversation, "Edward, son, I know you wouldn't have come to see me here to talk about your discovery if you were not expecting something from me. Would you like me to try investigating more on that young lady?"

"It's very generous of you, Carlisle, but for now I think I'd rather concentrate on helping Bella to do her best here." I didn't need much concentration to do so, if any, and I certainly didn't convince Carlisle with the reason I gave him not to intervene. But it was too early to go one way or the other regarding that Audrey Hepburn look-alike classmate. So I just added, "Maybe we will try making friends with her, since she is less of a temptation to us."

I noticed that Carlisle seemed a little concerned with my answer.

"I suppose that it is in your interest, for the sake of your pretense, to make contact with the other students in your classes, Edward. But it would be prudent that Bella be the one to start a chat with this particular student, rather than you, if only not to give her the wrong impression…," he trailed off his sentence, but I knew exactly what he meant and I tried not to smile.

How many times, without helping it, had I been the subject of fantasies in the minds of the female students that were attending classes with me? It went back as far as the sixties in high school, and the fifties in college. My education prior to World War II had been through private schools segregating boys from girls. Those girls would never know how fortunate it had been for them that I was not allowed in their school, with the low level of self control that I had at the time. It was a wonder that I had been able to handle school at all…

The seventies had been a nightmare for me, what with the sexual liberation of women, as it was called. Everyone was sleeping with everyone else, and the campus of Yale had been transformed into a year long Woodstock Festival with fresh skin popping out of every bush. Jessica Stanley's little scenarios were kindergarten bedtime stories, compared to the graphic and explicit scenes that some of my classmates were playing in their head without knowing that it was like showing me unwanted porn with my self as the hero. I had wanted to die.

"Don't worry about that, Carlisle. I am sure that after seeing the way I acted with Bella today at least half of the students have understood that we were a couple. And thank you for listening. I didn't want to alarm Bella with that story, but I needed to talk to someone about it."

"I understand, Edward. Tell Esme that I will be back before twilight."

I left Carlisle and started walking off of the campus, towards the limits of the city. When I reached the forest, I sprinted my way home. Three minutes later I was in the living room, grabbing Bella's waist to hold her closer to me. I kissed her fervently to make the stress of my day disappear.

**BPOV**

My first day at Dartmouth had passed faster than I thought it would. After the linear algebra class that had lasted two hours, Edward and I had had a break before our three hours block of contemporary literature. Now, that was a subject far more accessible than all the equations I had tried to comprehend in the morning with more or less success. Even with my boosted intellectual capacities, I had no illusions of ever becoming a rocket scientist. On the other hand, I had eternity before me to read all the books on professor Sterling's list. I could even start writing a best-seller novel myself after my graduate studies.

Edward had seemed preoccupied by God knows what during all those hours spent on campus, and had found the first pretext to excuse himself and go see Carlisle after the last class. But I wasn't fooled; I knew perfectly that Edward did not want to pay a visit to his father to admire his new work place. And yet, I preferred to wait and have him telling me what was going on. He was still capable of making me believe whatever he wanted even if I was more perceptive than I used to be when human, which was quite not bad. Therefore, my being a very perceptive woman said everything of Edward's talent as a liar. Maybe that very deep down in me I knew Edward would always try to protect me from any unpleasant things, even the ones of little consequences. So I kept playing the game by reflex to reassure him. Regardless, I was agreeably surprised and comforted when he came to me in the living room and kissed me as if he had not seen me in weeks. I had to admit that Dartmouth was not the place for showing off our passion. But there was more in Edward's urgency to possess my lips at that moment. I couldn't faint anymore for lack of oxygen like I often did during those first years when our kisses had to be more careful and less passionate, but I disengaged momentarily from Edward's embrace to fathom his expression. There was a shadow of guilt in his amber eyes.

"Edward," I said with a hint of suspicion in my voice, "you haven't opened your mouth yet, well…not to speak anyway, but somehow I get the feeling that you want forgiveness for something."

Then he smiled my favorite crooked smile and I felt like I was melting.

"Bella, I didn't want to let you come back here alone, but I had to talk to Carlisle."

His explication made me confused. "I know that already, Edward. You told me that you wanted to talk to him about something. I thought it might be on my first impressions of Dartmouth. But then again, I can do that myself when he's back," I replied.

"Actually, I wanted to have his scientific opinion on a phenomenon that took place during math this morning," just as he was saying the words, his face shadowed again.

"Edward, what exactly happened this morning?" I asked with a small voice.

His anxiety was taking a toll on me. The worst scenarios began to run over each others in my head. Why did Edward need Carlisle's advice? Did what happened demand some medical expertise to be comprehended? But Edward himself had all the medical knowledge necessary to lecture any intern. Was it possible that he had fallen in love with a student and gone to Carlisle to ask if such a thing was conceivable for a vampire?

At the moment when my mind was drowning with these thoughts, I was really thankful that Edward could not know how gigantic my despair was. On the premise that he was, indeed, in love with someone else, the speed to which I had jumped to that conclusion would lead him to think that I had always been expecting a faux pas of that sort. So much for the confidence I thought I had that I meant everything to him.

And if it was totally something else, Edward would feel guilty for the next twenty years for not demonstrating enough the love he felt for me. Because if he did everything he could, I would never imagine that he could love another woman. Yes, that is how he would look at the situation, and I just could not permit that to happen. So I had to regain my composure, and try acting like I was above and beyond whatever he had to say.

But why was it so easy for me to love him, to show him night after night my craving for him that had no ending, and at the same time was it so hard to believe in the power that I had over him? How was it possible that I still had doubts?

"Bella, love, it's nothing serious, I can assure you," I had been lost in my dark meditations for less than a second. Edward was watching me with concern now. "Please, Bella, say something."

"No, you! You tell me why you looked so stressed out all day long, and don't even consider trying to spare my feelings!" I felt that I would cry out of rage if I still could.

"Spare your feelings? But Bella, I will try just that for the rest of my existence with you!" He said nothing else for a while, before he continued. "Bella, up until today I thought that you were one of a kind."

My body crisped when I heard the last sentence. It felt like I was about to break into a thousand pieces. I wanted to shatter and only fragments to burn to ashes would be left of me. But Edward was not finished, "What I mean is I thought you were the only person on the planet whose mind I couldn't read. But there was a student in linear algebra, a girl whose thoughts were not audible to me."

That new development let me speechless. I didn't know how I looked in that instant, but Edward resumed kissing my face as if stopping would put an end to his days. His lips then drifted along my jaw to find the hollow behind my left ear. I started to feel dizzy, and stilled myself not to collapse on the 18th century coffee table. Esme could never find another one like it. Edward realized what he was doing to me and finally let go of me, unwillingly, but only to grab me in his arms and sit down on the blue velvet couch, keeping me glued to his chest. I was ashamed for mistrusting him and I didn't know what to say. For the moment I was in heaven and I wanted to stay there.

"I am sorry that I upset you, love," Edward apologized. "It was not my intention."

Of course it was not his intention. And thank God that he had misinterpreted my overreaction. If he knew how miserable I had felt just minutes ago, what would he be doing now? Offering me to do my schoolwork for the whole trimester? Not that I would mind, though.

"You never told me what Carlisle had to say about my not being so unique after all," I said at last.

"Carlisle thinks that there is a biological justification in that particular case. I must add that the student we are talking about doesn't smell anything. As in no appeal, no throat burning, no nothing. I became fully aware of that fact when she walked to the door and was just feet away from us.

"Oh," I said, trying to remember. "I must admit that I kind of did not breathe during class. I didn't want to take chance…," I trailed off.

"I know what you mean, love. I used to do it all the time with you around, the first weeks," he smiled at the memory.

It was only since I had to blend with humans that I realized the will power it had taken Edward to resist my blood. The last year in Forks had desensitized me; I had to readjust myself and it was hard. Even if I knew that it was less so for me than for the rest of the Cullens. Jasper had told me many times that I was probably the most civilized vampire of our world. But since no one knew exactly how many of us there were, I didn't think much of it. My ability to live among the mortals just came in handy when we had to take care of some business. It was the case when we needed forged documents that we couldn't fabricate ourselves, and for which we were generously paying J. Jenks' services. I had become the official representative for the Cullens when we had needed J. Jenks' expertise on that fateful day of December to produce passports for Jacob and Renesmee.

"Bella, darling, I asked you a question."

I was still nestled against Edward's chest, but my reflections had led me elsewhere. And, since my great capacity of control was due to the fact that I was able to concentrate on one thing and shut off all the stimuli that had disorientated me at the beginning of my new life, I simply had not heard Edward's question. I took a cushion to put on my husband's lap, and lay down so I could see his breath taking face bent over me with expectancy.

"Hum, what did you ask me?" I said without leaving his gaze, even if I was more than dazzled by now.

"If I show you the mental mute tomorrow in our class, could you try to make contact with her?"

Jeez! The way he had made his request, I would have sworn he was talking about an alien from outer space. But when Edward was using his liquid gold eyes and his crooked smile to mesmerize me like that, I just couldn't resist him.

How had I managed to keep a hold on myself until our honeymoon? But then again, I could recall some blurred memories of my human period with Edward, and how much energy he had spent trying to keep me from making _him_ lose control. What Herculean efforts he had put to never go too far! One more reason for me to love him like I did and like I always would.

I frowned before I answered, "Oh, I see! Planning on yet another scientific experiment…" Even if he didn't read my thoughts, Edward could read my face, and he knew that I was kidding him.

"We can indeed see it like that, Bella. If the blood of that student doesn't smell, it protects her from the ugly creatures that we are, and it is worth investigating."

I didn't like when he spoke of us as if we were monsters, even if he was right somehow. I didn't know how many vampires were wandering in the world, but I knew only of a dozen at most that didn't feed on human blood. It was our family, plus the Denali coven, which consisted of Tanya, Kate, Carmen, Eleazar and Garrett. Garrett had joined the Denali coven and their way of life after Irina's tragic death during the aborted fight against the Volturi. He had fallen in love with Kate in the middle of the conflict that we had barely avoided, thanks to Alice and her precious witnesses.

"Edward," I sighed, "It will be my pleasure to try to making friends with that girl, especially if I don't have to worry about feeling a violent craving to quench my thirst and soothe the burn in my throat just for having her standing by my side. But I can't drag her to Carlisle's lab for blood work. Well, technically I could drag at least five classmates, but…," Edward put a finger on my lips to stop me.

"Bella, darling, I am not asking that much from you. I will certainly find a way myself to extract some of…"

I didn't let him finish his sentence; I was horrified. "Edward, for Heaven's Sake, what excuse will you find to obtain blood from that poor innocent mortal?" He was looking at me with a grin. Had I missed a joke?

"But Bella, who said that Carlisle needed blood to make his analyzes? I was rather thinking of a DNA sample."

Edward didn't get the chance to elaborate before the main door of the residence opened wide to let Emmett, Rosalie and Renesmee in. The next second they were joining us in the living room.

"What did I tell you, Rose? Not even able to take the opportunity of an empty house for…"

Rosalie didn't give Emmett the occasion to go further with his less than subtle allusions, and slapped him yet again behind the head. I had stopped counting the slaps Emmett was dispensed by Rosalie a long time ago. It was probably an inner component of their relationship, second only to their sexual intimacy. Nonetheless, I was wondering who, after all these years, Rosalie was still trying to protect from the insinuations of her beloved. Renesmee, without a doubt, the little three year old girl who looked eight and was as clever and insightful as her hundred eight year old dad. I knew she would never suffer from insecurity like I had, like I still did sometimes, and it was reassuring. Had she understood her uncle's joke?

I stood up to take her in my arms. Her warmth radiated my body while she put her little hand on my cheek to tell me of her day. She had started her morning with helping Esme to bake her favorite muffins. Then Rosalie and Emmett had taken her for a ride on the lake that was part of the property. They had used one of the row boats. The Cullens revered sport and luxury cars and enjoyed a fleet of boats as well. However here in New England, on an ancient and historical domain, it was out of question that they use motor crafts. For obvious ecological reasons, and also because it was much more exhilarating to race sail boats, leaving intact the ecosystem of a magnificent natural body of water. At the moment, though, Emmett had no one to compete with, except on weekends, and he was dying of impatience for Alice and Jasper's return. Alice and Jasper were currently traveling Europe to find antiques to furnish the mansion and its annexes. Yes, Esme had already acquired all the available and valuable ancient collectibles and furniture on this side of the Atlantic, and there was still plenty of room for many more.

When Alice and Jasper would be back, after Christmas, the lake would be frozen and Emmett would have to swap boat racing for speed skating. But it was fine by him; he couldn't wait for the lessons Edward intended to give me. He was still dreaming to see me make a fool of myself again. It had not occurred once since I had been changed. It really seemed to me that vampires couldn't fail at anything.

"Emmett, practicing aquatic sports without a safety vest, what were you thinking?" I asked him sarcastically after a few seconds of Renesmee's own home movie. "Edward told me that the lake is 100 feet deep. Don't push your luck!"

Truth be told, the only grounds for our family to wear safety devices was not to pass for a bunch of irresponsible people, should a human come for a visit. Not that we had close neighbors, or that we were having a lot of interaction with the community, but we couldn't avoid contacts completely, and neither should we. Carlisle, by taking care of injured and sick people in an emergency room and teaching at Dartmouth, had social obligations. So did Edward and me as college students. Even Esme had to go in the city to run some errands, from buying food for Renesmee to ordering specific tools and material for the restorations. And Rosalie had not stopped going shopping, sometimes accompanied by her niece.

Officially, however, we were all foster kids adopted by the Cullens, with the exception of Nessie, but we knew that in eighteen months or two years at most, we would have to change her cover. She was now showing me that Rosalie had started to teach her to knit. Wow! Maybe next week she would show her how to tune up my Ferrari.

I could only wish that all those activities in which my daughter was involved here, on the domain, would make her forget that she was not having the same life as other children her age.

"Rosalie, I can't thank you enough for all the things you do for Renesmee," I said. I had again that odd sensation that I would cry if I could.

"Bella, sister, it's natural that I take care of my niece. I am the one grateful that you let me do so… and for everything else." I knew that Rosalie was referring to the day I had flown to Italy to stop her brother from committing suicide after her phone call to announce him I was dead. "Besides," she went on, "It's not like I am missing something. The students of Dartmouth are so stiff and focused on their studies that I could barely get them to notice me."

"Times have changed, Rose," Edward said. "Nowadays they would probably continue to ignore you, if it's possible, but they would have taken the time to get a snapshot of you with their cell phones so they can think of you at night in the dorms, romantically or otherwise."

"Humph!" Rosalie growled. I wanted to disappear under the oriental carpet I was standing on. Emmett and Edward hit their fists together in approval. A lightning bolt striking the piano would not have been louder. I decided to go upstairs to read my notes from linear algebra, hoping not to answer like a dunce when Edward tested me.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: the magnificent and irreplaceable Stephenie Meyer owns the Twilight characters. **

Chapter 4

Mind Games.

On the second day we headed to Dartmouth, I realized that if we had planned to socialize with our fellow linear algebra classmate, it wouldn't happen today. We didn't have linear algebra on our schedule. We had electricity and electromagnetism in the morning, calculus in the afternoon, and astronomy in the evening.

While I was taking some notes on the movement of charged particles in a constant and uniform electric field, I started feeling bad for Bella. Surely she would want to rip my skin, later on, for the unlikely choice of courses I had made for the both of us three years ago. She had agreed at the time because she didn't think we would actually attend those classes. I had done the paperwork regarding our admission in the weeks before our wedding. Her attention at the time had been entirely focused elsewhere, probably on what was to come afterwards. I could still go meet the dean and make arrangements for a lesser load of courses from the physics and math departments. However, Bella would be insulted that I thought so little of her intellectual faculties. The fact that, to her, I was Mr. Knows Everything had been an issue from the very beginning of our relationship. Admittedly, it was not far from the truth, except that I didn't know the future, as I had once explained to Jacob Black.

Jacob…Why was I thinking about him at the moment? Probably because I wondered about our future, conscious that our fates were mingled for the rest of our existences. He had imprinted on Renesmee, but she was not as human as he was, or not in the same way; without being unbreakable, she could still expect to live for centuries. Jacob couldn't live that long, unless he stayed in the company of vampires for an extended period of time, during which he wouldn't age. It had not been easy at first for me when I had discovered that my once rival had a special connection to my newborn daughter. Yet, after the whole Volturi episode, my perspective of the situation had changed dramatically. Renesmee was not asking for Jacob these days only because we had told her that he would be joining us very soon. We didn't know exactly when, though. Jacob had to convince his sister Rachel to stay at La Push. She had imprinted on his friend Paul, but Billy had wanted her to pursue her studies after she had impressed him with her perfect grades as an undergraduate student. Jacob's dad was totally in his right to ask that much from one of his kids; Rachel's twin sister, Rebecca, had married early and was raising a family of her own in Hawaii. At 23, Rachel was a few credits shy of becoming a chemical engineer. I was curious to see how Jacob would manage to ask her to take care of their legally blind old man.

Reflecting on Jacob and my daughter had not stopped me from taking notes, and I was now writing down something about the Kirchhoff's laws and the measurement of the electric resistance. By the end of the last hour of class, I was seriously considering the different ways I could make up for the torture I had put Bella through. A weekend out at a luxury spa was not an option; my wife had never been the type of woman who would go crazy for some pampering time. The only thing I could think of that Bella would want as compensation for the hard stuff she had to learn here, she was already getting it night in, night out. Too bad also that Bella didn't give a damn about cars. She was barely driving the red Ferrari F430 I had offered her for her nineteenth birthday. But I had only myself to blame for that disconcerting fact; she had made it clear that she did not care for me to give her manufactured things, let alone ostentatious ones. It was frustrating not to be able to spoil Bella as much as I wanted, but the only thing that **she** wanted was me, so…

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen!" Bella shouted at me loud enough for the whole body of students exiting the classroom to hear. "Magnetic flux and Gauss theorem? I swear to God that I will wreck your baby Vanquish big time! Even Rosalie won't be able to fix it!" Her dark gold eyes were sparking fire bolts. She then added, but very quick and very low so that no one would notice "And you can have the bedroom all for yourself for the rest of the week!"

Well, that was a first…And it seemed it was more of a punishment to her than it was to me. A gentleman could never forget that it was always the lady's prerogative to accept or refuse his favors. Bella had wanted me to spend my nights with her ever since we had declared ourselves to each other and of course even more so after our honeymoon and her transformation. But I would never have forced myself in her bedroom if she had not required me there, as strong as my desire of her was. I was utterly happy she was feeling so well in my arms that she seemed to never get enough of our time as lovers. But if she felt she was having the revenge she sought after by not sharing her bed with me for the next couple of days, I could only agree to her decision, and deal with it.

It would be interesting to see how much time she would resent me and stay away from me. If I told Emmett, I was sure he would want to bet on it.

Bella was already in the hallway, almost forgetting to moderate her pace. I looked around to be certain there was no one else and when I saw the last student of our group turning the corner at the end of the hallway, I sped up to my wife in a blur. "Whatever you wish, Bella, but let me help you with the homework." I could tell that she was still aggravated. "I promised you that I would not let you fail."

"I could help her," I heard a voice say behind us.

Bella didn't move, motionless like a statue and not willing to answer me or the person who had kindly offered her help. I turned around to thank whoever was trying to be obliging, and found myself staring at the Audrey Hepburn's dead ringer. Only now, I could see that she was even more beautiful or exquisite or whatever the adjective that applied to such a creature. The truth is she didn't look real. For one thing, she was very thin, even thinner than Audrey Hepburn ever was. She looked like a manga character. She also was extremely pale, almost as pale as one of us. But even if I couldn't smell her, I could hear her heart beat loud and clear. It was abnormally slow, in fact. Why she was there, in the same building than us at that very moment, I could not fathom. The mystery that surrounded her was deepening.

She was standing in the middle of the passageway, her arms crossed against her chest, waiting for an answer. Two seconds had passed since I had heard the sound of her voice. But when I had turned to face her, I had seen her features switch from impassive to downright astonished, and back. The only way I could interpret her reaction was that she had figured out on the spot what we were. And then it hit me. I started to see images flashing from her mind, like a television zapping channels on and off reception.

Before I could get too absorbed by the flow of visions that were rushing in my head, I refocused my attention on Bella. Her stillness was going to be noticed momentarily and I knew that I had to say something to make her react.

"Why don't you go wait for me in the library, Isabella Marie?"

At last she lifted up her face and looked at me. I had no way to explain her that the student standing expectantly in the hallway was the mental mute I had told her about. Bella glimpsed at the girl, inexpressively. The next second, I could hear her in my head. "That girl is the special student from linear algebra, isn't she? I can tell because she doesn't smell." Of course she had acknowledged the singularity. I just nodded slightly. Before she left, she said aloud, "Fine, but don't take too long. I feel like I could lose it today!"

Bella was angry and I could understand why, but was she serious when she implied that she could use the library as an all-you-can-eat buffet? I didn't go further with my concerns because the girl was talking again.

"I offer to help your friend with her homework, and you send her away! Damn, what is your problem?"

She had a bit of a funny accent. It sounded like French, but not quite. I didn't really care to find out about it, though. Right now my problem, as she had put it, was that one of the pictures I had just picked out from her mind was of me, submerged in a bathtub filled up with a mix of water and blood. I had seen it for only a fraction of a second, but it had been enough for me to memorize all the details. I was half naked and whiter than I truly was, and even if my eyes were wide opened, it was obvious that I was dead. I hoped that none of the emotions I was feeling at that moment were showing on my face. I was thinking that if it were not for the images she was involuntarily throwing at me, I would have told her to mind her own business and get lost. But I had wanted to find out more about this student and now it was becoming clear to me that it was my obligation to dig out more information and determine how it was possible that she was having these disturbing visions of me. I answered the girl in the most polite, yet casual way that I could manage.

"I am sorry, Miss, but I don't think I've had the privilege to introduce myself. My name is Edward Cullen," I said with more velvet in my voice than necessary.

I realized too late that dazzling our classmate was not going to do any good. The young woman did not react like other humans would have. Her heartbeat did not accelerate and she was only observing me as if I had offended her.

"I already know who you are, Mr. Cullen. We have linear algebra together," she said acidly. Apparently, I had offended her all right. I just couldn't understand how. "I'm sorry," she continued more softly, "I need a cigarette. Can we go outside?"

So far, that was the most unusual conversation I had ever had with anyone, vampire or human. I needed to go find Bella, but I also needed to obtain some DNA from the woman standing a few feet from me. Moreover, I was not going to leave her before she told me about the visions in her brain.

"OK, then," I answered tentatively, "but not for long because my friend is waiting for me in the library."

"Come on, Edward Cullen, I am sure your friend can survive a couple of minutes without you following her like a poodle."

Now she was being sarcastic. How peculiar… Something was definitely off with that girl. I didn't like her last comment, especially since I wasn't sure whether Bella could indeed stay all by herself in a room filled with individuals who could make her mouth water with venom and her throat burn like hell. I had to make a point. "I will accompany you outside, but you've got to tell me your name first. Can you do that?"

"Yes, if you stop patronizing me," she smiled. She was dragging me towards a secluded emergency exit and I started to have doubts regarding her intentions, while I was still receiving stroboscopic pictures from her mind. "Your family being rich and famous doesn't give you the right to treat everybody like subalterns," the girl went on.

I had no idea why she would say that. My family was rich, but not famous. It was a recognized fact that we had donated generously to Dartmouth for the construction and renovation of some edifices, but only regionally. What did that student know precisely about the Cullens? I was seriously pondering her sanity. Or maybe it was my brain that was snapping from the overload of pictures it had to process. Regardless, I was listening to a woman whose dialogue was incoherent and at the same moment Bella was probably counting the minutes she could go through without killing anyone. "You don't know anything about me, Miss. I still don't know your name," I said infuriated. "If you are referring to the Cullens who have given money for the restoration of some landmarks on the campus, those were my grand-parents and they died a long time ago!" First lie of the semester. How many more would follow?

"Villeneuve," she replied stoically. "My name is Vickie Villeneuve." She opened the door and we were outside, under a cloudy white sky. She led me to a nearby bench and began looking in her backpack for her cigarettes and lighter. Maybe now we would have a real talk.

"So, Miss Victoria Newtown," I said derisively, "you have linear algebra with me and my friend Isabella, but you don't have electricity and magnetism. Would you care to enlighten me on the reason you were waiting for us after the class?" I knew that she had not been present as we were getting out, otherwise I would have noticed her and I would not have sprinted to catch up with Bella. But if I could make that Vickie person feel like I suspected she was up to no good, maybe she would understand that we were not to be messed with.

"I am afraid there is nothing to explain, Mister Edward Cullen," she replied scornfully, to level my tone I supposed. "It is pure coincidence that I was walking by your classroom at the moment I was." She didn't say anything more for a few seconds, but then she continued, "Why would you make fun of my name anyway? I don't like being called Victoria. It sounds like my great-great-great-grandmother."

Her last sentence made me cogitate about the people who had vanished from the public eye throughout the centuries because they had become vampires, creatures of the darkness. They must have been missed by family members and friends at some point. It had not been the case for me, but Rosalie was still grieving over the fact that her family had never got closure.

"I am sorry if I offended you, Vickie," I answered honestly. "But your appraisal of my family incensed me."

"Apology accepted," the young woman replied, exhaling the smoke from her cigarette. The cigarette I would have to retrieve later for a sample of her DNA.

"I don't know why I said that about your family. Not all rich people are sick bastards," she stated.

Her words made better sense than a few minutes ago, but now I nearly pitied the girl. Evidently, being so judgmental about one's wealth suggested that she had had a few bad experiences with it. I changed the direction of the conversation. "You have a French name," I said plainly.

"Is that a question?" she asked, her flawless face somehow lightening up.

"Not really," I said.

"Well you are right though, Edward. I have a French name and it's because I come from a place where most of the population speaks French."

Most of the population? Then she was in all probability from Montreal, Quebec province. It was only a four hours drive from there to Hanover. I had heard that the tuition fees across the border were a lot cheaper.

"You are from Montreal, aren't you?" I questioned her. She nodded. "May I ask you why you enrolled at Dartmouth then? I thought McGill University was as good as any of the Ivy League colleges. And I also thought it was less expensive."

Again she shot me an annoyed look and answered me straightforwardly, "It's not always just about money, Edward." She, then, threw away the residue of her cigarette and stood up. "It was nice talking to you," she said as she walked away from me. I was about to leave the bench myself when Vickie Villeneuve turned to face me and added, "Next time, I will tell you why I looked like I had seen a ghost earlier." She disappeared at the edge of the building.

"Oh yes, you will," I thought on my way to the science library.

**BPOV**

It had not been in our plans to go to the library after our morning class, but there I was, looking everywhere around to find a quiet place to calm down. I isolated myself in a cubicle with a table and a few chairs, but no windows. I did not want anyone to see that I was having a hard time. I was mad at Edward but I felt guilty to resent him because, all things considered, it was not entirely his fault if I had to endure a whole semester of physics notions that were impenetrable to me. I could have filled out the admission papers with him and I would have known what I was getting myself into. But I didn't and now I regretted it acutely. Edward would do everything he could to help me and I should be glad to have him by my side. I didn't know why I was taking this college thing so seriously and why I was becoming obsessed with it. This was all unhealthy, to say the least. It was not as if I were attending Dartmouth to become a C.E.O., or a lawyer, or whatever. It was true that I wanted Charlie and Renée to be proud of me, but still. And what if, after all, my learning capacities were so bad that Edward would give up trying to assist me? I desperately hoped that he would have enough perseverance.

I thought about what I had told him when the class was over. It was so childish, not to mention that at the end of the day, I was the one who would regret it. There was no way I was going to take it back though, that would be too easy for him. I really wanted Edward to grasp that I felt like I had been toyed with. Or was it that my husband was so blinded by his feelings for me that he didn't see some subjects were simply out of my reach? Of course I didn't intend to abandon Edward to himself for very long, just for the rest of the week; only three little nights.

Argh! I wanted to beat myself up for my poor management of the situation. If I were to tell Edward I had not been serious after the class, admit that I had been overreacting, then I would feel like having no free will, like he could act any way he wanted and make all the decisions because I would agree to it no matter what. But I was not like that, I needed to decide too. So I would stick to my word.

I opened my backpack to get my notes and the reference book and I started reviewing the first chapter. I didn't realize how much time I had spent reading about the characteristics of electrical charges, finding the topic somehow less complicated than I had first assumed. When at some point I felt a hand caressing the nape of my neck, I didn't have to turn around to know it was Edward. His smell was like no one else. I was addicted to it, literally. That scent had greatly intensified compared to what it was before my transformation. I still wondered on occasion why vampires smelled the same to me as when I was human, and then stronger still, while the human smell had become a constant tease and reminder that blood was now what I craved for. The foods I used to love, however, now totally disgusted me. Edward's hand was tracing my collarbone and sure enough, my concentration evaporated right then and there. How Edward could so easily have his mind focused on so many tasks at once when I was unable to accomplish a single one with him touching me was an enigma. There was resolutely something wrong with my brain. And at this minute, as he was massaging my back, my determination was on the verge of going down the drain. Suddenly, I felt like I could take any load of physics and math gibberish that would be thrown at my face.

"OK," I finally said after letting Edward try to make me relax for a few minutes, "maybe I won't touch your Aston Martin after all." I turned to look at him in the eyes. He looked back at me while continuing his massage, a sign of relief surfacing in his golden irises. What, had he genuinely thought that I would wreck his baby?

"I don't care so much about my car right now, Bella. I thought I would walk through a crime scene."

I frowned. And then I remembered. I pondered for a few second to decide if I should feel insulted or if I should start laughing. I had meant for Edward to get worried that I could not control myself in the library because I was furious. But I had not considered for a second that he could believe I was capable of acting on my threats. If he thought I had not enough self-control to spend a day among the mortals, then why bother to convince me to become a student here? And yet, making fun of Edward's misapprehension wouldn't do any good. I tried to remain serious. "A crime scene? Thank you for this vote of confidence, Edward. I will try to remember it next time I want to use sarcasm."

Edward stopped his massage and sat next to me, "Bella, I know you have a lot of willpower. But the truth is that you have never been left all by yourself and surrounded by humans for an extended period of time. I was truly concerned."

I couldn't help smiling, "Wow! What am I? A five year-old? I did not realize fifteen minutes was such a long time! And by the way, was it even worth it?"

I knew Edward would be fast at catching my allusion. He took something from a pocket and placed it in front of me, on the table. It was a small zip-lock bag containing what seemed to be a cigarette butt. I was a little repulsed. "I suppose it's a good thing that some people haven't quit smoking yet," I said.

"I'll give it to Carlisle. He has the necessary equipment to get some DNA out of that cigarette," Edward explained.

"How did you get the sample?" I asked with interest.

Edward sighed, as if he wanted to avoid giving me details.

"Edward, if you don't tell me, I will imagine the worst, even if the worst is not half as bad as it would have been if blood were involved," I said.

"I'm going to tell you alright, and after I do, I'm pretty sure you won't want to have anything to do with the girl after all," he mumbled.

"Well that's a change," I replied. "I thought you wanted me to become friends with her."

"Yes, that was my plan when I didn't know that I was going to have an unexpected chat with her today."

I could see that Edward was reluctant to go on, and it placed me even more in the expectative. "What happened that made you reconsider?"

"For one thing, the whole purpose of getting closer to that student was to be able to get her DNA, which we have in our possession now, thanks to her littering on campus. For another, there is something wrong with the girl's mind."

"I thought you couldn't read it," I pointed out.

"Well, strangely enough, I started to see pictures from her mind when I made eye contact with her. But like I said, there were just pictures coming at me, no coherent thoughts."

"So far, I don't see how that fact could stop me from wanting to know more about her," I was a little perplexed now. It had appeared to me, when Edward had asked me to make contact with our classmate, that by doing so I would benefit in two ways: I would make myself useful to Edward, and I would get the opportunity to reconnect with the mortals' world. And all of a sudden Edward was suggesting I should stay away from the fragile human girl? What was going on in here?

"Bella," Edward continued, "her brain is wrong in more ways than just one. Imagine you're watching a screen where a single picture shows for a fraction of a second and then is replaced with another one, and so on, like a stroboscopic pulse, and with some white noise in between, and you get the idea of what I had to bear for the whole time I was with the girl."

"The whole time? Surely you stopped watching her at some point."

I was a little displeased with Edward's recounting of his ordeal and jealous too. The young woman we were talking about was the prettiest human I had ever seen. I knew Edward thought of me as the most beautiful creature of the world, but he was not being objective. Plus, the human girl was a brunette, too.

"I tried not to look at her all the time," Edward said impatiently. "A human subjected to the same ordeal that I was would have passed out or convulsed, I can tell you that much."

"And yet," I interrupted, "I am not affected by that kind of phenomenon, so your little friend represents no danger to me." I was starting to lose my patience as well. But my comment must have come out more insinuative than I had intended, because Edward sounded plain infuriated then.

"My little friend? Is that what you just called that lunatic? Vickie Villeneuve is her name, and she flashed me a picture of myself dead in a bathtub filled up with my own blood!"

"Oops!" Upon hearing his last sentence I had grasped Edward's reserves, at last. "Maybe that Vickie person is crazy," I said matter-of-factly.

"Exactly my point," Edward concluded in a softer tone.

I had to change the subject, even if there was more to be said. I was sure a discussion with Carlisle would help clarify the situation.

"Can we get back to that stupid physics course you've enrolled me in now?" I asked, unable to hide my disdain for the subject or to fake any enthusiasm.

"We will, love, but first you need a break and I am thinking of something else for the moment."

And without elaborating, Edward moved his chair closer and started delicately kissing my throat, sending electric shocks all over my body. I was already burning with desire and grateful that we were in a remote place, but what about my resolution? I barely moved my lips to protest. "Edward, darling, don't you remember what I told you before?"

He put his lips on mine to prevent me from coming up with more excuses to resist him. And then all my will crumbled and I responded to his embrace ferociously. Our kiss deepened and intensified, neither of us needing to breathe, before Edward let go of my mouth and whispered to my ear, in a way that would have made me faint if I were still mortal, "Yes Bella, I remember," and then continuing to tease me by smelling the hollow behind my ear, he added "However, you didn't say anything about the science library cubicles."

He pulled me to him, kissing me even more passionately. We rolled on the floor, entangled, and made up for the next three coming nights.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I have no rights on the Twilight characters. They are the property of the incredible and untouchable Stephenie Meyer.**

**The songs featured in this chapter are the property of Mylene Farmer and Laurent Boutonnat. I did translate one of them, but the other, I let to your google translator. If it sounds weird, you got it right...**

Chapter 5

After hours

**BPOV**

I was definitely not in the same mindset during calculus that I had been in the morning physics class. I felt more willing to listen attentively to the teacher, and I really found what she had to say interesting. It was a three- hour course as well, but it didn't seem as long to me. I had already studied most of the notions explained on the smart board when I was in high school. Maybe I wasn't a lost cause after all, and I could build on what I remembered from my senior year at Forks.

I refused to consider my new enthusiasm as having anything to do with my so-called break in the science library. Because if I were to need a special treat from Edward in-between each and every class on our schedule to motivate me, surely I didn't deserve to be a student at Dartmouth. After all, Dartmouth was a place for serious people, who would achieve great things and possibly change the world. But I wouldn't end up anywhere when my years as a student here were over. By all means I would do my best to succeed if only for the sake of my parents and the Cullens, but I couldn't have a real career, not one that would involve being in the public eye anyway.

I knew it was possible to have a fulfilling life, even for us creatures of the dusk. Carlisle had proved it, for more than 30 decades now. But all the research and all the discoveries that he has made were never published because they were evidences of his time on earth, and Carlisle didn't want to cheat with his work. He could have changed his name and become someone else as the years went by, but he never did. He just made sure that his name or picture was never printed in books, newspapers or magazines. The only exception was of course the painting of him from his time with the Volturi, at the beginning of the 18th century. When it came to donating money to different causes and organizations, Carlisle would only use his last name. As Edward had put it, once, after a few decades everyone you know is dead and the problem is solved. And if someone old from the past were to meet Carlisle tomorrow and ask him if he might be related to that doctor Cullen who had treated him 50 years ago, Carlisle would just tell him that it was his grandfather. I also knew that it was the answer we were to give if someone made the connection between Edward, Carlisle, and the Cullens that were known on the campus to have donated large amounts of money.

Edward was supposed to have been adopted by Carlisle when his father, Carlisle's oldest brother and a more prominent member of the Cullen family, had died in a car accident ten years ago. I was supposed to be a foster child who had been rescued by the Cullens after my parents had been arrested for running a meth lab. I didn't mind about my cover; it was plausible enough. Rosalie would have probably preferred to burn in hell than accepting to pass for the kid of some drug addicts. Luckily for her, she was just the wife of Edward's older brother, no need to pretend there.

While meditating on our situation, I had been able to understand perfectly the formulas required to solve the equations presented on the smart board. I looked down at my notes and realized that the page of problems that was due for the next day was already completed. That was weird…

The other students were leaving the room now and I was still glued to my chair, mystified. I heard Edward trying to get my attention.

"Well, Bella, if you don't want me to spend the night with you and all your homework is done already, you are in for one tedious night…"

"Speak for yourself, Edward," I interrupted him, "I have already purchased all the books on Mr. Sterling's list, you know. Maybe I can manage to read 2 or 3 before dawn."

"So," Edward went on, his eyes on my notes and raising his left eyebrow, "I thought calculus was a blur for you." He looked amused and I didn't know why.

"And so did I," I replied. "But it seemed I was wrong, cause I didn't lose a single concept that was discussed during these three hours. It's freaking me out actually. Especially the part when I did the exercises without concentrating on them."

Edward smiled even wider then. "Tell me something, Bella. When you were living in Phoenix, you were in an advanced program, weren't you?"

"Yes, but what does it have to do with any of this?" I asked, gesturing at my notes with my head.

"Do I really have to explain?" Edward sighed. "Bella, just because you favor literature over science doesn't mean that you can't understand the subject. You were a good student in high school. You think that you got accepted at Dartmouth just because I pulled some strings, but the truth is that they wanted you as a student here no matter what. Three years ago when we postponed our admission, I had to find an excuse because the administrators wouldn't understand why you weren't coming. I had to tell them that you were very sick, which was true anyway. And I offered to tutor you because I felt guilty I had let you down during your senior year. If you didn't do so well in calculus back then, it's because you were depressed, not because you're dumb. Grasp that, Bella, and deal with it! Oh, and by the way, being a vampire just magnified what you were born with!"

Wow, that was impressive! I didn't know how to respond to Edward's long argument, though it made sense, and it also explained why I was not so confused anymore when I was going through my notes in the library. My husband would not lie to me about my intellect, that much I knew. But instead of reassuring me, his statement made me feel bitter.

"Well," I said at last, "it's a good thing that I am not into sciences, because guess what? That career path is out for me too. And so are all the ones that would drag us out of the shadows…"

Edward stared at me with a mix of sadness and anger. He looked devastated.

"Why would you say that, Bella? You begged me to change you, and now you're having regrets for the things that you won't have the opportunity to accomplish? But what were you expecting exactly? It's not as if we're condemned to spend our days isolated from everything. We can have a life! You knew what it would be like to be one of us, and you didn't care because you wanted to be with me forever. But you can't be with me forever and have a normal life. That's just impossible!"

Edward crossed his arms and became still like a statue. I stood up at once and put all my things in my backpack. I had infuriated my husband with my comment and now I had to find a way to convince him that I had not meant to blame him for anything. How stupid of me to have made such a pointless statement in the first place. Truth be told, I was more than glad to be a college student. And I didn't want a career that would make me become a celebrity. I had always wanted to stay in the anonymity, keep a low profile. It was not incompatible with my ambition of writing books, for that matter. As long as no picture of me would be involved…

I closed my eyes to come up with the right words to justify myself, but when I looked up Edward was no longer by my side. I felt a lump in my throat, at the very place of the burning. The burning was nothing in comparison to that lump. Formerly it would have gone away with the flow of my tears, but with no tears to drop, it was getting more painful by the second. It was 5:20 p.m. The astronomy class was at 6:30. I had a little more than one hour to make the pain vanish.

**EPOV**

Sometimes, I really thought that Bella would be the death of me, at least figuratively. I had wanted to boost her confidence, and the only answer she had found was to tell me that all her studying was in vain because it would serve no purpose. That was not even true. Bella had experienced first hand what purpose two medical degrees could serve, even if I was not practicing medicine. When it had been time to deliver Renesmee, Carlisle had not returned from hunting yet, and I had been the one there to take care of everything. Whatever Bella would choose to do with her life, I was confident that others would benefit from it somehow. What had I done to deserve such bitterness from her? Was Bella even aware that, had she been turned into a vampire a hundred years ago like I had, it would not have been an option for her to go to college at all? She would have been stuck in a world where the only possibilities for women were to get married and raise children, to work in manufactures or, if they had an education, to become school teachers. I tried to imagine my wife in a clothing factory, sewing ten times more pairs of pants than her co-workers and still getting paid a ludicrous salary. If it were not for the fact that such jobs persisted nowadays, I would laugh at the scene I was playing in my head.

I was on my way to the building where our Astronomy class with professor Letourneux was located. I had heard that he was a very talented teacher in his field. I couldn't wait to see that for myself. But first, I needed to have a little chat with my wife otherwise she might believe that I wanted a divorce for her ridiculous comment. I sat on a bench identical to the one Vickie Villeneuve had used during her cigarette break. This reminded me that I had unfinished business with her as well. It had been a cloudy day, but for now, clouds or not, twilight was approaching and I was contented.

After a moment, I saw Bella coming towards me, her head down as if to avoid making eye contact, while I knew she had noticed me. She just sat beside me and kept silent. I wanted so badly to decipher her thoughts at that instant, but I knew she was not in the right mood for letting me in. I made her look at me by putting a finger under her chin.

"Bella, I want you to know that I am not mad at you," I told her softly.

"I don't deserve you, Edward. I am a bad person," she said with a small broken voice.

"Bella, I think that you are overwhelmed right now but I know that you will adapt. It's just a matter of time," I cheered her up.

"I like it here. I don't know why I was so mean this afternoon. Who cares if I don't change the world? As long as I'm with you, I'll be happy," she said decisively.

That last remark stunned me.

"Is that what it was all about?" I asked with a sharp tone. "You threw that crap at me because you've realized that our condition keeps us from saving the planet? But Bella, I thought you were unhappy to be a vampire when you said those things. It made me…you don't want to know how I felt! Besides, don't get it wrong, love, you can be whatever you want to be. It's just that you have to compromise, like Carlisle does, by practicing medicine but keeping his medical research and experimentations to himself. Like I do, as a composer. You and the rest of my family are the only ones who get to know my repertoire. Emmett will never be in the NFL, Esme will never be in the dictionary with Frank Lloyd Wright. Alice will never be known as the next Coco Chanel. Rosalie, who could have been a top model, finds her happiness in fixing cars and taking care of our daughter. Not to mention Jasper, who could have taught two or three things to our last secretary of defense. And I am sure that…"

Bella put a finger on my lips to stop me from saying more, but I took her whole hand and started to kiss it. "Thank you, Edward," she said in a whisper.

"For what?" I asked, the velvet returning in my voice.

"You made the lump in my throat dissipate."

She was looking at me more intensely now and her lovely face was inches from mine.

"Not that I want to reminisce about the day you made me a vampire, Edward, but you saved my life in doing so. I could never resent you for that."

Then she crushed my mouth with hers, and kissed me forcefully and mercilessly for a long moment. I groaned as she bit my lips in her eagerness to go further, right there by the gravel alley leading to the physics department. Bella was capable of controlling herself in almost any circumstance. But when it came to her craving of me, it was trickier. In private I did not mind when she wanted to be closer and sometimes, in the intimacy of our bedroom, she liked to assault me. Not in a brutal or lethal way, of course. More like a game in which I was her consenting prey. But at this very moment, even if the alley was in the middle of an arboretum and the darkness was taking over, some students could still walk by the bench where we were making out, and I knew that we were not exactly acting like an ordinary couple of young people in love. And just to validate my thoughts, I heard someone coming our way.

"Edward Cullen and Isabella Marie, what a coincidence, again!" Vickie Villeneuve was staring at us, a huge smile crossing her flawless face.

Apparently, she found the view of two classmates making wild animal sounds quite diverting. Someone else would have run for his life…

At last, Bella stopped licking my neck and looked up at the young woman who had interrupted her little recreation.

"You know that the Hanover Inn is actually a hotel, right?" Vickie Villeneuve went on.

The fun she was having now was almost tangible. Bella stood up too fast but Vickie was still looking at me and didn't notice. I should have known better than to sustain her stare. Images started to invade my brain at once and it took me three seconds to react and look away from our classmate. It was more than enough time to get a glimpse of myself playing the piano in a place I had never seen before…

I grabbed my school bag and Bella's, and made the proper presentations.

"Hello again, Miss Villeneuve. I don't think I have introduced my friend Isabella Swan to you."

Bella smiled politely at Vickie, but did not offer her hand. Then again, maybe that Vickie person would not have responded to our ice cold touch.

"You can call me Bella," she said plainly.

"We were on our way to Professor Letourneux's astronomy class," I explained.

"I bet you were," Vickie Villeneuve replied with a wink. "I was on my way there as well. Would you mind if I go with you? I don't like to walk on the campus alone after dark…"

"It's not dark yet," Bella pointed out a little too harshly.

While she was being rude to Vickie, I could see that she was trying hard not to laugh at the girl's admission. I wasn't so sure that she was better off accompanied by two vampires than she would have been all by herself. But she was undeniably not appealing to us with that non-smell of hers. I could see the blood running in her jugular vein through her pale skin though, and again it made me wonder what her odorless blood would taste like. Would it be like water for humans? I would definitely need to get a sample after all.

Two seconds had passed and none of us had moved yet.

"All right," I said, "you seem to know the campus better than we do anyway…"

That was certainly not the case. I could find my way around here even with my eyes blindfolded. Vickie Villeneuve resumed her walk and we followed her a few steps behind.

Five minutes later, we were in an auditorium with room enough to accommodate an assembly of at least 200 people. It was crowded when professor Letourneux began his lecture. I heard thoughts that suggested some students were disappointed by the complexity of the topic. The teacher was describing the characteristics of stars: magnitude, distance, position in the sky, and he was doing so in a way that caught the attention. I also observed that the female attendance was even more absorbed by the subject, dazzled somehow. After a moment, I realized why. Professor Letourneux was not the average geek. In fact, he didn't look like an astrophysics teacher at all. He looked like a younger Daniel Day-Lewis. The girls in the assembly probably didn't realize this, for they were very young and it was unlikely that they would have seen movies featuring the actor when he was fifteen to twenty years younger. But I knew better. I had heard of all the movie stars that had ever lived or were still alive, from Harold Lloyd and Rudolph Valentino to Zac Efron and Shia Labeouf, from Mary Pickford and Louise Brooks to Dakota Fanning and Abigail Breslin. The list in my head included each and every actor worldwide that had ever been in a movie or on television. Therefore, I was fast to discover any resemblance between the people I met and the late or living celebrities. Such resemblances were very uncommon. And yet, here at Dartmouth, there were two persons bearing that level of similarities. How strange…

The hours flew by and it was time to go home, at last. The auditorium was empty now, with only the teacher on the stage and Bella and I in the first row. Vickie Villeneuve had insisted that we sat close to the stage and we had agreed, but she had left during the break to go smoking and had never returned.

"So," I heard Professor Letourneux ask while I was packing my things, "did you learn something during my presentation?"

Since there was no one else in the auditorium, I assumed he was talking to us.

"Actually, professor," Bella replied instantly, "I am a bit confused with the notions of right ascension and declination."

Our astronomy teacher's answer surprised me more than Bella's question, "Why don't the two of you join me for a little snack at Murphy's? I am more than willing to explain what is not clear to you but I am starving. And also, I like to learn more about my students…"

This teacher was unquestionably exuding some kind of charisma, because Bella, instead of declining the invitation, was all enthusiastic about it.

"I'm not hungry, but I wouldn't refuse such an opportunity to have a conversation with one of the best teachers I've ever had," she answered gleefully.

For a girl who claimed not to like the sciences, that was suspicious behavior to say the least. She elbowed me in the ribs while accepting the invitation. Ouch!

"You don't mind, do you, Edward?"

Our day was not over after all, "Oh, I don't mind at all, Isabella. It's not like we had other _plans_." I clearly emphasized on the word _plans_. It was enough for her to get the insinuation. I was also trying to find out if Professor Letourneux had other plans of his own, though it was not likely, since he had invited the both of us. In addition, he looked like an honest fellow, not the type who would corner a girl to get some favors without deserving any. He was already thinking about his next lesson and the article that he was writing for the Astrophysical Journal. And all his thoughts were in French. I should have guessed, from his last name, that he was not American. Most certainly another French Canadian. What a curious coincidence…

"It's settled then. Let's go kids!" Professor Letourneux concluded.

The guy was about 40. Indeed, we did look like children to him. I couldn't wait to see if he would treat us like such.

Murphy's was the place where the students and faculty members liked to go after hours. Even past 9:30 p.m., there was still plenty of action, including a band. I wondered what kind of discussion we would be able to hold. For with all the noise of the conversations around us, what would the astronomer be able to hear? He ordered something to eat and started to ask us questions. It was a good thing that he was not addressing Bella specifically because I could tell she was very uncomfortable to be the center of the astrophysicist's attention. She was new to the academic world and didn't know that some college teachers could be overly familiar with their students.

"You two are freshmen here, if I am not mistaken?"

"That's right, Professor. We just moved to Hanover from Washington State," I answered.

We had already told him our names on our way here.

"Are you related to the Cullen family who gave money to build the Computer Science Center?" the astronomer questioned me.

"My grand-father would have done that. He died long before I was born, but he had put money in a trust fund to be used by the Dartmouth administrators."

The truth, of course, was that Carlisle had opened the trust fund 50 years ago. And like the Nobel Foundation, it would never go bankrupt.

"Wow! I wonder if the man would agree with the way his money has been used?" Professor Letourneux asked to no one in particular.

"I don't see why he wouldn't," I replied. "But since I have no influence whatsoever on the whole matter, I don't really give a damn." I was improvising a blasé teenager's analysis of the situation. My real opinion was that our money was genuinely well spent. Speaking of purpose in life…

"And you, Miss Swan? What are your fields of interest, beside astronomy?"

"I'm majoring in English literature, if that's what you are asking."

That much was true, Bella being incapable of lying.

Suddenly, the conversations came to an end as a young man on the small stage announced to the audience, "And now, ladies and gentlemen, our singer Vickie will perform live for you!"

Definitely, that girl would never stop astounding me. The band that was on the stage began to play the musical background of a piece that I may have heard on the radio while in France in the early nineties. Vickie Villeneuve entered the scene and started to sing.

_Poussi__ère vivante, je cherche en vain ma voie lactée_

_Dans ma tourmente, je n'ai trouvé qu'un mausolée_

_Et je divague_

_J'ai peur du vide _

_Je tourne des pages_

_Mais…des pages vides_

_Poussière errante, je n'ai pas su me diriger_

_Chaque heure demande pour qui, pour quoi, se redresser_

_Et je divague_

_J'ai peur du vide_

_Pourquoi ces larmes_

_Dis…à quoi bon vivre_

_Mais mon Dieu de quoi j'ai l'air_

_Je sers à rien tu tout_

_Et qui peut dire dans cet enfer_

_Ce qu'on attend de nous, j'avoue_

_Ne plus savoir à quoi je sers_

_Sans doute à rien du tout_

_À présent je peux me taire_

_Si tout devient dégoût_

_Poussière brûlante, la fièvre a eu raison de moi_

_Je ris sans rire, je vis, je fais n'importe quoi_

_Et je divague_

_J'ai peur du vide_

_Je tourne des pages_

_Mais…des pages vides_

_Mais mon Dieu de quoi j'ai l'air_

_Je sers à rien du tout…_

The song was almost over and though I had been careful not to look the singer in the eyes, I had been watching her moving slowly on the stage. I returned my focus on Bella, who was listening to the song too, but was obviously clueless about the lyrics. It would be time for me to initiate her to foreign languages. Although that actual song our classmate was just finishing performing, and quite well, was awfully depressing.

She informed the crowd, "Thank you all. That song was _À quoi je sers _by Mylene Farmer. And now, I would like to sing a duet with Professor Alain Letourneux."

If the astronomer sitting with us was not expecting Vickie Villeneuve's request, he didn't show it. He was eating some French fries and just put the last one back in his half empty plate. Had it been me in the same position, I would have choked on my last bite. Not that I couldn't sing, on the contrary, but like that, without knowing in advance?

"Will you excuse me for a brief moment?" was all the astronomy teacher told us before joining our classmate on the stage.

Something was going on and I didn't like to be kept in the dark about it. I had only heard two words in the professor's mind "_Damn, Vickie_!" Maybe he had been about to say it out loud since he had used English.

"Thank you, Professor, for joining me. Do you think you can sing _Regrets _with me?" Vickie asked, all joyful.

"I can try," our teacher replied casually.

He must have been in from the beginning and had just not told us…And so the music started on again.

_Vickie :__ Loin __très loin du monde_

_Où rien ne meurt jamais_

_J'ai fait ce long, _

_Ce doux voyage,_

_Nos âmes se confondent_

_Aux neiges éternelles_

_L'amour cachait _

_Son vrai visage_

_Professor : Oh viens, ne sois plus sage_

_Après tout qu'importe_

_Je sais la menace_

_Des amours mortes_

_Vickie : Gardons l'innocence_

_Et l'insouciance_

_De nos jeux d'antan, troublants._

_N'aie pas de regret_

_Fais moi confiance, et pense_

_À tous les no way_

_L'indifférence des sens_

_N'aie pas de regret_

_Fais la promesse, tu sais que_

_L'hiver et l'automne n'ont pu s'aimer_

_Professor : Debout la tête ivre_

_De rêves suspendus_

_Je bois à nos amours_

_Infirmes_

_Au vent que je devine_

_Nos lèvres éperdues_

_S'offrent des noces_

_Clandestines_

_Vickie : N'ouvre pas la porte_

_Tu sais le piège_

_De tous les remords_

_De l'anathème_

_Professor : Je me fous des saisons_

_Viens je t'emmène_

_Là ou dorment ceux qui s'aiment_

_Vickie : N'aie pas…_

_Professor : Viens ce soir_

_Vickie : De regret_

_Professor : Viens me voir_

_Vickie : Fais moi confiance, et pense_

_À tous… _

_Professor : Viens t'asseoir_

_Vickie : Les no way_

_Professor : Près de moi_

_Vickie : L'indifférence des sens_

_N'aie pas…_

_Professor : L'aube est là_

_Vickie : De regret_

_Professor : Reste là_

_Vickie : Fais la promesse, tu sais que Professor : Je te promets_

_Vickie : L'hiver et l'automne Professor : D'être là_

_Vickie : N'ont pu s'aimer Professor : Pourl'éternité_

I was speechless after they were done. For one thing, it was a difficult duet to sing, I ought to know. For another, it had looked like Vickie Villeneuve and Alain Letourneux had sung it dozens of times together. And it was also odd to hear this song because the lyrics could have been written for Bella and me. Bella seemed flabbergasted at the moment. Maybe we should have gone home right away after our last class.

I wanted to say something to her but then Vickie Villeneuve and Alain Letourneux came back to the table. Vickie was staring at us with amusement. I looked the other way, at the clone of Daniel Day-Lewis. He, unlike Vickie, looked remorseful.

"I am sorry, guys. I should have told you that I was coming here on a mission." He blinked like Vickie had done earlier. "I noticed that you were sitting with Vickie during my class, so I assume that you know her already." The astrophysicist was looking at our acquaintance now. "But I am pretty sure Vickie did not tell you that she was my daughter, did you, Vickie?"

"Nope," she answered laconically, but still smiling widely.

She was pleased with the fact that she had been playing us all day long. She didn't realize that she had not chosen the right targets for her aimless games. She would have to grasp once and for all that we were dangerous. I would take care of it when the mystery that surrounded her was no more. If only Alice were here to help me with that. Vickie left us to sing again.

When the first notes of _White Rabbit_ by Jefferson Airplane hit the assembly, I decided it was time to leave. Bella agreed.

**To see the videos of the songs featured in that chapter: go to a video site and type Mylene Farmer/ A quoi je sers**

**Mylene Farmer and Jean-Louis Murat/ Regrets **

**What my purpose is:**

**Living dust, I have not found my milky way**

**In my storm, I have just found a mausoleum**

**And I rave**

**I dread the blankness**

**I turn the pages**

**But…blank pages**

**Wandering dust, I did not know where to go**

**Each hour asks for whom for what to stand up**

**And I rave**

**I dread the blankness**

**Why those tears**

**Tell… what to live for…**

**Oh my God how do I look**

**I have no purpose at all**

**And who can tell in this hell**

**What is expected from us, I confess**

**Not knowing anymore what my purpose is**

**Probably nothing at all**

**Now I can hush**

**If everything becomes disgust**

**Burning dust, the fever took over me**

**I laugh without laughing, I live, I do anything**

**And I rave**

**I dread the blankness**

**I turn the pages**

**But…blank pages**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: without Stephenie Meyer's beloved characters from the Twilight saga, this story wouldn't exist. And without the help of my betas LadyMacKenzie and Just4ALE, my writing wouldn't be half as good. **

Chapter 6

Research and discoveries

**BPOV**

The next day, which was Thursday, was not a good day for vampires… vampires who attend college, that is. The sun had decided to show up in the Hanover sky. So this is how I came to fully appreciate the convenience of having a tutor. A very competent one, moreover.

Since Edward had already attended all the courses he had chosen for us, he knew exactly what chapters of the reference books and what topics were going to be covered while we were absent from class. Therefore, we spent the entire night of Wednesday to Thursday going through everything I would be missing by staying home. I worked hard to assimilate the concepts Edward explained, and it was tremendously rewarding. I completed all the exercises without failing any of them. Of course there had been an incentive for me to succeed or at least complete my college stuff. Edward and I had decided that after I was finished with my work, we would do some research to find out more about Vickie Villeneuve.

Edward was on a mission to ascertain the reasons why the girl kept seeing him in her mind - seeing him dead in a pool of blood. He suggested that we look on the internet for starters, but I couldn't really make out why. What exactly did he expect to find by surfing the net?

I decided to put my reservations on hold for the time being. It was morning and I wanted to indulge in some quality time with Esme and my daughter. Since we had moved to New Hampshire, I hadn't had much opportunity to talk to my mother-in-law because she had been busy reviewing the property to evaluate the required improvements, and she had also been away for two-to-three days at a time acquiring the antiques that now adorned the mansion and its annexes.

Esme was in the kitchen, making some pancakes for Renesmee, who was sitting at the table, quietly reading Rudyard Kipling's _The Jungle Book_.

"Momma, you missed my bed time last night…" My daughter trailed off. I couldn't tell if it was just a statement or if she was placing blame, but it made my still heart sting slightly.

"Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry!" I responded. "I had to attend an evening class, and the teacher invited us to go with him for a late snack afterwards."

That sounded odd, and it got Esme's attention. She turned to me, the disbelief and alarm evident all over her face.

"But, Bella, is it necessary to get this close to the faculty members?" she asked with concern.

"Truth be told, Esme, it would have attracted more attention if we had declined Professor Letourneux's invitation to join him at Murphy's," I answered matter-of-factly.

"How so?" she continued, still anxious.

"Well, I shouldn't have opened my mouth in the first place," I explained. "After the class was over, Professor Letourneux asked me what I thought of his lecture, and I told him I was confused about something he brought to our attention."

"Oh! I see," Esme said. "Those college teachers, they are always eager to show off…"

"More than I bargained for, I must admit…"

Esme's appraisal of college teachers at large brought memories of last evening back to my mind. Should I tell her that our astronomy teacher didn't even have to pronounce a word to be showing off? For heaven's sake, he was the living incarnation of perfection! For a human, of course, but still…

"So the bottom line is," I resumed, "once I told him about my being lost with some of the concepts he mentioned during his lecture, he just wouldn't let go of us."

That was not exactly true, though. I could have said I was tired or overloaded with work, but it would have been rude. And honestly, the guy was hot, even from the standpoint of a woman married to a Greek god.

"Oh, Bella, are you telling me that you obliged him just so he could have a chance to show you he's a good teacher?" Esme asked with some kind of pity in her tone.

I considered telling her Professor Letourneux could have been the worst astrophysics teacher on the planet – which he wasn't – and he'd still have his female students wishing that he'd proposition them as he had done to me.

"Oh no, Esme!" it's not like that at all. You make it sound like I put him through a test while we were at Murphy's. _"OK, Professor Letourneux, explain this to me again and if I still don't get it, I am not coming back to your class…"_ I mocked with a squeaky voice.

"Well, maybe that teacher is too old and he has lost his grip on the subject. Don't feel that you have to spare his feelings, darling…," she said, like she was trying to help me cope with a nasty case of cockroach infestation. I had to clarify her understanding of the whole situation.

"OK, Esme, you got me," I told her. "I accepted Professor Letourneux's invitation because he is very charismatic, very charming, very handsome, and not old at all. But just so there is no more misunderstanding regarding my behavior, Edward was with me the whole time and he would have said something if he'd determined that the guy was a scoundrel."

"Oh dear! I am sorry, then. I totally got it wrong," she answered apologetically. "But try to keep a safe distance from the man all the same, please."

"Well, I'll try, Esme. Only there may be a little problem with that…," I trailed off.

"And what would that be, Bella?" she asked, concern finding its way to her soft features, again.

"Did Carlisle or Edward tell you about our classmate who doesn't smell anything and whose thoughts he couldn't hear?" I demanded.

"Carlisle did mention it to me, yes. And he told me that Edward had new information about her," she answered.

Edward had surely contacted Carlisle yesterday at some point to tell him about Vickie's disturbing visions.

"It turns out that the girl is Professor Letourneux's daughter, no less," I explained.

"Oh dear, that's unexpected!" Esme replied, in shock.

"So you see, even if I try to avoid Professor Letourneux's attention - which of course I will - at the same time Edward and I intend to dig out information about his daughter. It's sort of touchy," I concluded.

"That's for sure," Esme agreed, before returning to prepare Renesmee's breakfast.

When the weekend came, we would all be going on a family hunting trip. My throat was starting to be dry and itchy with thirst. It was definitely a good thing we had the brief reprieve from school because I wasn't sure I could last all day without snapping. But here, surrounded by the deep forest and away from human scent, I was safe… and I had other things to distract me from focusing too much on my primal needs.

I sat on a stool beside my daughter and caressed her bronze curly hair soothingly. She stopped her reading, and put her little hands on my cheeks to take me into a world filled with elephants, frightening wild cats, friendly bears, and mean hunters.

**oooooooooo**

**EPOV**

First thing in the morning – well, there was never a first and last thing per se in my sleepless life – I went to see Carlisle in his study. I hadn't wanted to disturb him when we came home from the pub late last night. Carlisle was a very busy man, teaching, doing research, taking care of patients at the hospital, helping his wife renovating each and every building on our property. I had never and would never ask for his advice past midnight. I knew that it was a sacred time for my adoptive parents to reconnect with each other in that very particular way that only our kind could experience, namely sexual blissfulness without any interruption for hours and hours at a time. In fact, it was quite reassuring to think that if the world as we knew it were to collapse in the next week, or the next month, or even the next century for that matter, we would still have sex to keep us from wanting to die out of boredom like any ordinary mortals. As long as we could feed ourselves on some more evolved species – rats, squirrels, even snakes – we would survive, if just to spend the rest of our existence entangled with our significant other. Generally speaking, of course. It seemed to me that, while my nights of endless love making with Bella were a truly essential part of my life, there was much more to do with my wife than indulging in a lot of pleasurable time in bed.

My goodness, the thoughts that were possessing me right now! It surely had something to do with the fact that last night was the first night since Bella had been changed that we had NOT spent making love. I could only hope she would not turn it into a habit, or else I would almost certainly go crazy before long.

Well, luckily for me, there were still the secluded cubicles of the science library if it came to that. Jeez, Bella! What she was putting me through! She had, in all probability, no idea of the nearly unbearable need she had left me with, otherwise she would have fallen down at my feet, said she was sorry and begged me to forget about the dreadful form of punishment she had used to make her point. I knew, by now, that she wanted to be done with science courses for the rest of her existence after graduating from Dartmouth. And it was ironic that during the night, I had been able to prove to her that I was right all along when I had told her that she shouldn't be apprehensive about her intellectual capacities. She had nailed every notion, concept, formula and exercise that I had went over. Once I would tell her about one notion or another, she would throw it back to me in her own words to show that she had fully grasped it. I could only hope she'd demonstrate her appreciation for my great tutoring skills by shortening my sentence, taking pity on her needy husband. In fact, I liked the idea of playing the pathetic guy part if that's what it took to persuade Bella.

Carlisle's library door was ajar. I opened it wider and went directly to my father. He was considering the purchase of a new chromatograph and wasn't sure which model was the most efficient. That was something Bella would be glad to learn I knew very little about, for once. Technological developments in equipment and instruments for medical research laboratories had progressed too fast and I hadn't been able to keep up with it, to my utter discontent. But then again, my time with Bella had kept me away from my other activities and **distractions**, as I had once put it. Before Bella walked into my life, I had spent a great deal of time composing, learning foreign languages, traveling the world and studying all kind of subjects in different colleges and universities. Not so much so for the last four and a half years.

"Good morning, son," Carlisle told me out loud. He knew that I had been scanning his mind, so he went on, "I suppose you feel bad that you can't help me with the purchase I intend to make for my lab, don't you, Edward?"

"Intensely so, Carlisle, I must confess," I replied, trying to look sincere, although at that very moment I was only hoping that the equipment he needed to analyze DNA samples was available and functional as expected. I couldn't wait one more day to find out what was wrong with Vickie Villeneuve.

"So, Edward, you told me that you were able to see pictures from your classmate's mind after all?" he asked, curiosity crossing his face.

"Yes I was, and that is actually the reason why I need to learn more about her through her DNA," I answered.

"It's a good place to start your inquiries, indeed," Carlisle approved.

"I have a cigarette with some of her DNA on it and I would very much appreciate it if you would process and analyze it today, if you don't mind," I continued.

"I will be thrilled to help you in your quest, son. I have already told you that if you needed my expertise I'd be available," he replied.

I was instantly grateful to have Carlisle by my side, eager to help me unveil Vickie Villeneuve's enigma.

"How long do you think it will take you to do it, Carlisle?" I asked, a bit frantic.

"Come back in a couple of hours and I should have the preliminary results, at least," he responded.

I gave him the zip-lock bag and let him return to his earlier musings.

I went down to the kitchen to see Renesmee and to have a chat with Esme before she left the manor for the day. An hour or so later, Bella and I were on our own in the living room: Rosalie had taken our daughter with her for a shopping spree, and Emmett was spending the day helping Esme. I had to admit that when we were forced to stay away from the public eye because of the weather, I regretted that my so called brother and sister had decided to isolate themselves in one of the most distant annexes. It felt very different from our days in Forks and I was not sure that it was for the better.

While I was turning the central computer on, I noticed that Bella was wearing a blue dress that was undeniably distracting, despite my multi-tasking abilities. She was relaxing on the velvet couch, almost statue like, waiting for the results from the search engine to pop up on the screen. If Carlisle hadn't been upstairs, I might have lost control and tried to take advantage of our alone time to make her seriously reconsider her cruel decision. At the same time, I wanted to beat myself up for having these lustful thoughts towards my wife. Where had my gentleman manners gone? How could a single night without sex make me feel so miserable? Maybe it was a more vital part of my existence than I wanted to acknowledge. Or it was simply because the more sex you had, the more you wanted, and the more you longed for it once you stopped having it.

All of a sudden, a memory of our honeymoon flashed through my mind. Right at the moment, I felt exactly like I had felt on Isle Esme, when I had decided not to touch Bella for fear of hurting her while she, on the other hand, would try to break my resolution by wearing the most provocative undergarments that she could find in her suitcase.

"Damn it, Bella!" I said, frustrated. "Do you do it on purpose?"

"Do what?" she asked, looking at me apologetically as if I had caught her slobbering over a bunch of Club Med counselors teasing her from behind their sun glasses. After all, we were supposed to go hunting in two days. Her eyes were turning dark, and it gave her the same look that she used to have when still human.

"Dressing like a Victoria's Secret model," I muttered.

"I'm not a fashion person, Edward, but even **I** know that the Victoria's Secret models wear next to nothing at all. Are you implying that I should go change my dress? I thought you liked it," she replied, chagrined.

"That's the whole point, love," I said, trying to stay calm. "I like it too much, and it's driving me crazy right now that you won't let me be close to you."

"Oh!" she considered what I had just told her for a few seconds. "Well, I'm sorry, Edward. I guess I didn't realize that you were in such pain. I might mull over the possibility of putting an end to your purgatory time, then. But please, allow me to keep this dress on for the time being."

"Fine, my little devilish wife, but at least come sit on my lap while I launch the search engine," I pleaded.

I didn't have to ask her twice. In a split second she had jumped off of the couch and landed ten feet away, on my lap. A human eye would not have perceived her movement. It felt comforting to have her in my arms as I typed Vickie's name on Google. My hopes of finding anything were not very high. Our classmate was only twenty years old, give or take, and I could not envision what would justify that she be mentioned somewhere on the World Wide Web. But, to my astonishment, it took Google only a few seconds to saturate the monitor with loads of data relating to a Vickie Villeneuve. Mostly, they were titles of articles written by a scientific journalist who bore the name of our acquaintance. Maybe it was more frequent a name than I thought. I didn't know much about the French Canadian population or culture.

"Wow!" Bella said with amazement. "Maybe I should accept Vickie's offer to help me with my homework after all. Jeez, the girl must be some kind of genius! Look at that, those articles were published six years ago…"

Six years ago would have made her be only fourteen at the time. No, that was impossible. It must have been another Vickie Villeneuve. But we had no way to be certain because there weren't any pictures of the author. And there was also a book that had been published by a Vickie Villeneuve. A book about analytic geometry, intended for high school students. That was really strange. But no, it couldn't be the Vickie that we knew, for that book had been published when Bella was just a little girl, and Vickie was younger than Bella.

"Well, I don't know, love. These data are not conclusive. Maybe it's just not the person we're looking for," I replied, more confused than ever.

"Oh, I see," Bella went on, "you don't think it's possible for a human to be that intelligent?"

I clicked on one of the titles to assess the quality of the writing and what the article was about.

"Look, Bella, do you really think a fourteen year old girl would be able to gather all the information needed to write a six-page paper on the crash of a probe entering Mars' gravitational field too fast?" I asked.

"Yes, if her father is an astrophysicist," she responded.

And she was right, at least about that actual article. Regardless, it was not enough of proof. Maybe we would get luckier with Carlisle's findings. We had a couple more hours to wait for his results, though.

"You look very pale and famished, Bella. How about going on a little hunting expedition while waiting for Carlisle's discoveries?" I suggested.

"Great!" she answered gleefully.

And off we went. We spent the whole afternoon feeding on deer and rabbits before we realized that if we continued, we wouldn't be able to join the weekend hunting trip. Besides, I was sure that Carlisle was done analyzing the DNA sample by now.

We headed to his lab, a room very similar to the one where I had helped Bella delivering our baby girl back in Forks.

"I am glad you're here," Carlisle told us as soon as we let ourselves in. "You were right, Edward, there is something wrong with that friend of yours."

My father's voice was lower than usual. He had spoken the way doctors speak to their patients when they have bad news to announce to them.

"What is it, Carlisle?" Bella asked anxiously.

"There is a mutation in Vickie's DNA," Carlisle simply stated.

"Okay," I replied, "but what makes it wrong, exactly?"

"I can't tell for sure. But the fact is that her genes are affected in some lethal way," he responded.

"Does that mean she is dying?" Bella demanded with a broken voice.

"I'm afraid so, Bella," Carlisle answered her gloomily.

"But surely there is something you can do about it, Carlisle?" I asked, alarmed.

Why was I feeling so bad for the human girl? I barely knew her. That wasn't like me to get so much involved with mortals, to care for them. The only other time I had felt compelled like that was when I had met Bella. But that's because I had fallen in love with her. She had meant so much to me from the very beginning. I didn't feel anything whatsoever for Vickie; I was only curious because of her visions. If she was to die, I only hoped that she pass away after I figured out the mystery surrounding her. Gosh, how could I be so indifferent and cold? What would Professor Letourneux say if he knew what I was thinking at the moment? Vickie was his daughter, for Heaven's sake! He would be devastated to learn that she was dying. Or maybe he knew already?

"I really don't see what I could do, son," he responded, defeated.

"Maybe it's not as bad as you think it is, Carlisle," Bella said. "I've talked with her and she was all joyful and daring, annoyingly so, in fact. Not like someone on her deathbed."

"I don't know how much time she has left, Bella," Carlisle replied, "maybe years, but not many, is all I can tell."

"Let's at least try to uncover the mystery surrounding her while she is still alive," I concluded without showing any emotion.

It would be best if I pictured Vickie Villeneuve only as the subject of my investigations and nothing else. But I should have known better than to express my thoughts out loud. Bella sent me a furious glare, and I realized instantly that I had just crossed the fine line that put me in her good graces.

"Forget what I told you earlier, Edward. If you have no compassion and consideration for that poor girl, you don't deserve to be relieved from your so-called agony. I will not share your bed until you change your attitude towards Professor Letourneux's daughter. Have a nice evening, both of you!" Bella said, infuriated by my comment.

Then she disappeared out of the room in a blur.

"_So, Edward,"_ Carlisle resumed in my head, _"how about I give you an update on the medical research equipment and instruments so you can help me chose the best chromatograph?"_

"Sure, Carlisle. Seems I won't have anything more stimulating to do for the next couple of days anyway…" I said with a grin, even if my mood had just been ruined by Bella's resolution.

The week could never come to an end fast enough.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: my beloved Stephenie Meyer is the owner of all the characters from the Twilight saga. **

Chapter 7

Offense/defense

**BPOV**

The afternoon was almost over when I left Carlisle's lab. I was more aggravated than I'd ever been in my entire twenty-two years of life; I could not believe what Edward had just said about Vickie Villeneuve. The girl was going to die, and all he cared about were her freaking visions! The situation had completely changed in the last hour, and yet Edward was still acting as if our classmate was a guinea pig, for Christ's sake!

I wasn't a big fan of her exuberance myself, but I felt bad for her anyway. Maybe the best thing to do, now that we knew a little more about Vickie, would be to simply avoid her. Honestly, all I wanted was to forget everything in relation to that girl… but it didn't look like I'd have the opportunity to do so.

Rosalie was back from her day of shopping with Renesmee and was playing dress-up with her in the living room.

"There you are, Bella, just in time for our little fashion show!" Rosalie said, all excited.

She kissed my daughter on the forehead and asked her to imitate a model on the catwalk for me. Nessie playfully did as she was told. In her fancy green velvet outfit, she looked like a doll, but I was too irate at the moment to appreciate it and compliment her as she deserved to be. I should also have thanked Rosalie for all the gifts and clothes she bought for Renesmee, but instead I just rolled my eyes, and fidgeted in my seat.

"What the hell is wrong with you, sister?" Rosalie asked, shocked at my reaction. "Your daughter is modeling, and she is the cutest little girl in the whole world, for God's sake!"

"Are you mad at me, Momma?" Renesmee cried, alarmed and confused.

Oh gosh, I was upsetting my daughter now, and it was because of her father's stupid demeanor. I would have to show him that his crazy attitude had consequences, and very negative ones, for that matter.

"Oh no, sweetie! Why would I be mad at you?" I answered in a higher pitched tone than intended.

But of course, with my own unpleasant attitude, she naturally believed I was annoyed with her. Poor little girl, what a bad mother I could be sometimes!

"You look really angry, Bella," Rosalie said, justifying Renesmee's anxiety.

"Forgive me, both of you," I tried to apologize. "This has nothing to do with you. You just caught me at a very bad moment."

"You don't seem to be thirsty anymore, though," Rosalie continued.

"It has nothing to do with me being thirsty either," I said, more composed. "It's Edward. He is being such an idiot right now!"

"That's news to me," she replied. "I thought it was impossible for him to display that kind of behavior."

Ah, ah! The sarcasm in Rosalie's tone was truly welcome. She had known Edward for more than seventy-five years, now. She must have seen him acting foolishly in probably more occasions than I wanted to be told about.

"It's because of that classmate of ours, Rose," I explained. "We just found out that she is going to die, and all Edward cares about is getting the girl to tell him about her visions…"

"Her visions? What visions?" Rosalie asked, stunned.

"Oh! I assumed you knew about that," I said. "Edward is able to 'hear' Vickie Villeneuve's mind, but the only thing he can hear, or see really, are pictures flashing at him, and some of those pictures are very unsettling."

"Unsettling how?" Rosalie asked again, wanting to learn more, now that I had started on the subject.

What I was about to reveal was not something I wanted Renesmee to hear, so I asked my daughter to go find some place for her new clothes in her room. I didn't need much time to inform Rosalie, just a few seconds.

"Well, Rosalie, it seems that Vickie showed Edward images of him dead in a pool of blood."

"Jeez, Bella! That is creepy," Rosalie responded very seriously, "but at the same time, so unlikely!"

She stopped looking stern then, and grinned as if she was on the verge of starting to laugh. I didn't think I had said anything funny, however. I must have looked upset because her next words seemed to be an attempt to comfort me. "One thing is for sure: the girl isn't having revelations of the future."

Right she was. But still, what was it with Vickie's brain that made her see things that did not or could not happen in reality?

"And you said that this human girl is dying, Bella?" Rosalie continued asking.

"Yes, Rosalie. Apparently there is something wrong with her genes because of a mutation in her DNA," I answered flatly.

"That doesn't tell us much," she remarked.

"Carlisle hasn't been more specific. He just said that she didn't have many years left to live," I clarified.

"Well, honestly, Bella, who does, aside from our kind?" Rosalie asked, sarcastic again.

Rosalie would always feel resentful of the fact that she was not going to die like ordinary people did. And yet, if she had had her way, she would have died at eighteen. She wouldn't have met the love of her life and she wouldn't have enjoyed taking care of Renesmee, or playing the mechanic, for that matter.

"All in all, it's a very sad discovery that we made today, and now I need a break from all that depressing stuff…" I concluded.

Just as I was finishing my sentence, I saw Renesmee waiting by the front door.

"Can we go to the playground, then, Momma?" she asked me, all enthusiastic.

God, I really hoped she hadn't been sneaking…

I had taken her a couple of times to a nice and quiet place with slides, swings and monkey bars. We would always wait until dusk to be alone in the park. If other moms and their kids were there at the same time, they would most likely suspect that something was different about Renesmee. She jumped higher and ran faster than normal children and she negotiated the climbing walls with the agility of some exotic reptile. Although my daughter was well aware of the fact that she was more graceful and more powerful than other children, it was still something we had to monitor when we were among humans.

I left Rosalie to inventory her purchases and decided to drive the silver Volvo to bring my daughter to our favorite spot. The sun was setting and the trees were building shadows all over the playground. I sat on a bench with a book and started reading while watching Renesmee acting like a flying squirrel on one of the structures. I had to remember to cross and uncross my legs from time to time in order to look human myself, just in case we were being watched from the other side of the street by the people living in the area. The park was in a remote location, but it was still inside the city limits.

We were there for about fifteen to twenty minutes when I saw three men walking in our direction. They were still far away from us, but my vision allowed me to see things with acute precision and from a great distance. I could also hear clearly what they were saying, and it left no room for speculation. Those men, like the ones I had once come across when in Port Angeles, were up to no good. More than that, in fact: they intended to harm us in a way that I would not let happen. But if I were to defend my daughter and myself, what would the outcome be for these criminals? If I didn't want them to have a single shot at hurting us, I would need to use my strength and it would be very hard for me not to abuse it. And, furthermore, did I _want _to restrain myself? Those three men were dangerous psychopaths for God's sake! All the same, I didn't want to turn into a murderer.

I was facing a dilemma and I didn't want Renesmee to become aware of the threat coming our way. If only Edward had accompanied us! Now I felt angry for letting the state of affairs deteriorate between us. What would he do in my position? He would, without a shadow of a doubt, be merciless. He was extremely familiar with these kinds of evil souls, people who killed just to satisfy some sick impulses. He had fed on so many of them before returning to Carlisle and Esme!

While I didn't think I had it in me to act like the vigilante that Edward had been, I felt my rage growing stronger by the second, and I couldn't help but growl as the men advanced towards us, closing the distance inexorably. I left the bench to go fetch Renesmee. Running to the car was not even an option. In my state of mind, all fury and wrath, I would be there in a haze and the men would realize that there was something dreadfully wrong with us. Rumors would start in no time that Hanover was home to supernatural creatures.

I stood in the middle of the playground with Renesmee by my side. It was pretty dark now and that was probably the reason why the men had decided to make their move. They thought we were two easy targets who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. They were only a few feet from us at that instant, and I was still undecided on what to do with them. Kill them or spare them? If I didn't kill them, they would run for their lives and alert the authorities, wouldn't they? What good would it do for us?

At last, one of the men spoke. "My friends and I intend to have some fun with you, baby. If you scream, we will extend the courtesy to the little cutie as well. Am I making myself clear?"

If I had still been human, that was the moment when I would have thrown up. But right now, my mouth was filling with venom and I could barely wait for an excuse to bite the monster who had dared to say those horrible words. I would give the scumbag one chance to change his mind, but if he went on with his threat, it would be the last one that he would ever make. I put on my most frightening smile, all teeth showing, and I was about to tell the man to go to hell when I heard a voice coming from a darker area of the playground. "You'll be sorry for what you just said, asshole."

And as those words echoed in the dusk, Vickie Villeneuve appeared beside me. She was not alone. She was holding the hands of two little boys about the same age as Renesmee. She turned to look at me and asked with a very low voice, "Would you please step aside with the kids while I take care of those bastards, Isabella?"

What? Had she just requested that I take the kids with me and let her deal with three sociopaths? Was she out of her mind?

"Do as I say, please," she whispered to me, awfully calm.

Then again, if it came to saving Vickie from those dangerous men, I would not hesitate. If needed, I would take care of it myself in return, even if it was going to blow our cover. But my classmate had a very convincing tone, and she didn't seem intimidated by the criminals who wanted to rape me and maybe my daughter as well. I was curious to see what she was going to do. I took the three children with me and we went to hide in the shadows of the trees.

Vickie stayed right where she was and asked, "Okay, then, who will it be first?"

Was she encouraging them to fight her? From where I was standing, in the darkness, I could see everything that she and her opponents were doing. Jeez! The girl was totally reckless! She looked so fragile and skinny in her black outfit. The man who had addressed me must have thought the same thing, because I heard him laugh and respond, "You asked for it, bitch!"

And the next second he was grabbing Vickie by her shoulders in an attempt to knock her to the ground. He couldn't have known better, and neither could I. Vickie responded to the attack by making a series of kung fu moves that sent her offender directly to her feet. She got on top of the man, straddling him and causing him to scream in pain when she twisted one of his arms in a peculiar angle. That's when the two other men decided it was time to help their pal to neutralize the girl who was not the vulnerable prey they had assumed her to be. But Vickie had managed to withdraw a knife from her adversary's pocket, and she was now applying the blade forcefully to his jugular.

"If you or your buddies try to harm me or my friend any more, I will make you bleed to death. Am **I **making myself clear?" she asked the man.

And before she let go of him, she used the blade to craft a deep cut in one of his thighs, managing somehow to avoid the artery that would have had the man bleed to death in matter of minutes. I heard him shriek in pain again while trying to get up. The smell of the running blood was almost unbearable. I stopped breathing to make the temptation go away.

Vickie was talking to the others now.

"Hey, you! Help your companion getting out of my sight before I have a change of heart and decide to slaughter the three of you with that knife."

When she had spoken to her attackers, she was facing them and opposite to me, so I could not see her facial expression, but it must have looked resolved at making good on her threat, for the three rapists did not argue with her. They turned and ran the other way as fast as they could considering the injuries that one of them had sustained.

"Everything is fine, now, Isabella. You can stop hiding," Vickie told me with a quiet and reassuring voice. I came out from behind the trees, holding Renesmee in my arms, and followed by the two boys who had kept silent the entire time. I felt overwhelmed by what I had just witnessed, but I needed to say something, anything.

"I thought you didn't like being all by yourself after dark, Vickie."

"I definitely don't, Isabella. But I am glad I made an exception tonight. Those evil men were going to rape you and the little girl, Jesus Christ!" she answered, disgusted.

"Are you mad at me? Cause I would have managed some way out, you know," I replied. I didn't want to look like a victim, even if the circumstances made it seem like I was defenseless.

"Why the heck would I be mad at _you_, Isabella?" Vickie responded sharply, as if I had offended her. "Don't take it the wrong way, but I think I saved your life tonight, even if you're convinced that you could have escaped those predators."

"Well I owe you my life then, Miss Villeneuve," I said to lighten the conversation.

"I need a cigarette, Isabella. Will you sit with me for a little while? The kids can play together," Vickie went on.

Since it was dark, there was probably less of a chance that they'd notice Renesmee's distinct way of moving. We sat on the same bench where I had been sitting twenty minutes before.

"Who are those two little boys?" I asked. "I have never met such quiet kids."

"Ian and Joel are my little brothers, but we don't have the same mother," Vickie answered while searching for her cigarettes. "Damn it! I forgot my cigs home."

"You should quit smoking, anyway," I advised.

"I am pretty sure I've heard that before," she replied with of a half smile on her perfect face.

"So, what are you, Vickie, a ninja warrior or something?" I asked, impressed.

"You didn't tell me about the little cutie you were holding so tightly in your arms," Vickie said, evading my question.

"Her name is Renesmee and she is my foster parents' daughter. I baby sit for them from time to time," I explained.

"Well, Isabella, maybe you should consider not waiting after dusk to take her to the playground next time," she answered wryly.

Yes, from a human standpoint I was certainly being imprudent, to say the least.

"You're right, Vickie, except that you did exactly the same with your two brothers," I pointed out.

"That's true, Isabella. But I can defend myself and protect my family. Can you say the same thing?" Vickie asked pointedly.

Actually, if she knew the truth about me, she would surely agree that protecting my family was something I was very good at, in my own singular way. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell her that if she hadn't taken care of the three criminals, I would have broken their necks and maybe even quenched what was left of my thirst with their blood.

"I suppose I can't, Vickie. So thank you again for what you did. And please, call me 'Bella' like everyone else." I said quietly.

"Now, about that, it was no big deal, you know. Only years and years of practicing martial arts. You should try it one day, if you plan to keep avoiding the playground during rush hours," Vickie said plainly while looking at something I couldn't see in front of her.

I was startled by her comment. How did she know that I never went to the park with Renesmee during day time? And how come that she seemed so coherent, lucid and relaxed tonight, while the day before she was an annoying young girl craving for our attention? I told her the first excuse that came to my mind.

"I attend Dartmouth during the day, as I am sure you remember," I said cynically.

"You missed linear algebra today, nevertheless," she replied bluntly.

"That's because I had some business to take care of at my place…" I trailed off.

"You're living on that huge compound in the woods, aren't you?" Vickie asked, too nosy for her own good.

"Yes I am," I answered. "With my foster parents, who adopted me five years ago, and my adoptive brothers and sisters."

"So, Edward Cullen is your adoptive brother, then?"

Holy crow, where was she going with that question?

"Edward Cullen is my boyfriend, if that's what you want to know. We are not related biologically, so Carlisle and Esme don't mind about our relationship," I explained.

"And the other members of your family don't go to college as well?" she asked.

I didn't want to be rude, so I kept answering.

"Emmett Cullen, Edward's older brother, is married to Rosalie Hale, who is Renesmee's nanny. Both of them are in their twenties and are done with school. I have also an adoptive sister, Alice Cullen, but she is traveling overseas with her husband, Jasper Hale, to acquire antiques for our house."

"So Jasper is Rosalie's brother, then?"

"Yes. He and Rosalie have been part of the family for only four years. You should have seen that at the beginning, back in Forks, when Alice met Jasper in high school. It was love at first sight. And the same happened with Emmett and Rose, who were seniors at the time…"

Wow! I was getting good at lying…

"But Edward, Emmett and Alice are related to the Cullens, right?

"Yes, they are Carlisle and Esme's nephews and niece. Their father was Carlisle's older brother and he died in a car accident ten years ago," I replied patiently.

"Oh! That's so sad!" Vickie exclaimed. "But what about you? What happened to your family, Bella?"

"Enough talking about my family," I decided at last.

Talking about a crack head mom that didn't really exist would be too precarious. I wasn't good enough an actress to play the part, at least not at the moment.

"Tell me about **your** family, Vickie; it's only fair," I stated.

"Well, it's complicated…" she was reluctant to elaborate.

"Come on, I am sure it's not any more convoluted than my story is," I encouraged.

"I suppose it's not. Okay, then," Vickie began, "My mother met my father when he was still very young. She got pregnant with me and my father dumped her. She was older than him, had already a nine year old boy and a career as a lawyer. So she raised me all by herself with the help of my brother. She died a couple of years ago and that's how I went to live with my dad, the astronomer. But he had married at some point, had two sons and became a widower when his wife died of cancer. So you see, it's not a joyful story to tell, overall," Vickie concluded bitterly.

"And your older brother? Do you still see him, Vickie?" I asked, wishing to change the direction of our conversation.

"My older brother died a long time ago, Bella. He committed suicide," she replied coldly.

And I knew, by the expression on her too perfect face, that our chat was over. She got up and turned to me.

"I would really appreciate it, Bella, if you didn't repeat what I just confessed to your boyfriend. He is already too inquisitive about me as it is, and I can't fathom why. It's like he knows things about me that other people don't. And I hate being the center of the attention anyway."

I didn't speak for a few seconds; I was too astonished. Somehow, Vickie had found out that Edward was investigating her. How was it possible? What had they been talking about yesterday afternoon? Did Vickie have some kind of gift that made her more perceptive than most people? I only knew of one other person as insightful, and it was because he could read minds! Of course I couldn't tell her about that. Instead I replied, "You can hardly avoid being the center of the attention, Vickie. You are the most gorgeous student on the campus. You can't blame people for admiring you. I would be very flattered if I were you. Besides, if you don't like people staring at you as if they were staring at an Egon Schiele painting, why did you become a singer?"

"Touché, Miss Swan," Vickie responded, suddenly looking at me more intensely. I had not realized, until that instant, that she had a very dazzling look, almost too much so for a human. She didn't answer my question, and turned it on me instead. "You are extremely gorgeous yourself, and all the male students at Dartmouth have noticed you by now, even if you don't like the limelight anymore than I do."

Yet another statement that was right in the mark.

"But at least you have a boyfriend, so they'll leave you alone. Anyway, can I count on your secrecy, Bella?" she asked.

No, she couldn't, but she would never know if I told Edward… or would she? I nodded to show her my good will.

"And one last thing for now. I am leaving, and I want you to leave as well, if only to make sure that nothing else bad happens to you here. Do you understand?" she asked, all protective.

"Yes, Vickie, I get it. But please, can you stop talking to me as if I was a five year old? I get enough of that already."

"Who treats you like that? Would that be your boyfriend, by any chance?" Vickie asked with a smile.

"How do you know?" I almost shouted, astounded.

"Because he has been very patronizing with me as well," she said quietly.

She left me to get her brothers and disappeared into the darkness. If she knew she was dying, she was very good at hiding it. If she didn't know, I was certainly not the one who would break the news to her. When I was sure that my classmate and her brothers were far enough, I took my daughter in my arms and reached the Volvo in a blur. A few minutes later, I was driving on the small secondary road that led to the mansion, still pondering what I was going to tell Edward about my conversation with Vickie. Most likely the whole thing. I didn't really have a choice, not after all she had revealed to me.

**Thanks to my wonderful betas LadyMacKenzie and Just4ALE.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: do I have to remind you that all the characters from the Twilight saga belong to the one and only Stephenie Meyer? Good reading, then.**

Chapter 8

Revelations

**EPOV**

I thought I was going to spend the rest of the evening with Carlisle in his lab, having nothing better to do other than to listen to my father's enlightened descriptions of the unfamiliar equipment. I did want to show him that I was still interested in what he was doing. Besides, it might save time if I didn't have to wait for him to do the analysis of the blood sample I intended to get from Vickie very soon.

However, around nine p.m., Bella ran into the room with a frantic expression on her face.

"We need to talk, Edward," she almost hissed.

I wasn't sure if I was in the mood for more hostility from my wife.

"It's about Vickie; I just came across her in the park," Bella explained.

I was so engrossed in Carlisle's technical clarifications that I hadn't even realized that she had left the mansion.

"OK, then. I'm listening," I said.

"I went to the playground with Renesmee, and we almost got attacked by three evil men…," she began.

"And you had to kill them and Vickie showed up at that exact moment, didn't she?" I continued the sentence for her. "And now you want me to help you get rid of the bodies, don't you?"

She cut me off, exasperated. "Edward, please, let me finish instead of making stupid assumptions! I didn't have to kill the men, because Vickie scared the hell out of them!"

"That's unexpected," Carlisle said, from the other area of the lab.

"That's impossible!" I replied, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

"And yet, that's exactly what happened. I was about to let them know that if they didn't leave us alone, they'd regret it, but then Vickie appeared out of nowhere and took care of the three men like she was the next Karate Kid!"

"And you didn't have to intervene at all?" I asked.

"No, except that Vickie wasn't alone; she was with her two little brothers and she asked me to take them away while she did what she had to do with the men."

"Too bad I wasn't with you, love. It would be easier for me to understand this if I'd seen her in action," I said, sighing.

"The first man who made a move on Vickie had a knife," Bella continued. "She took it from him and used it to injure him in the leg. And I am sure she would have killed the three of them if that one injury hadn't been enough to scare them."

"Oh my Lord! Vickie seems very strong for a human," Carlisle interjected.

"You would never guess so, Carlisle," I replied. "She looks like a Japanese manga character. She is tall and very thin."

"She probably wasn't born like that, though," Carlisle mused. "It must be the mutation in her genes that makes her so thin."

"Yes, possibly," I agreed.

And then, one detail Bella had mentioned came back to bother me.

"So, Vickie has two brothers?" I asked, probing.

"Yes. That's what I wanted to tell you about earlier," she responded. "One is the same age as Renesmee, and the other is a little older, I think. But they're her half-brothers: they don't share the same mother."

"Bella," Carlisle began, "based on what you saw on the playground, would you say that the boys are normal, or do you think they might be affected by the same mutation as their sister?"

"Oh no, Carlisle! The boys smell like other humans all right. I am pretty sure that they are as healthy as any other human kid can be," Bella affirmed.

"Something happened to Vickie at some point, then," Carlisle whispered, more to himself.

Suddenly, I felt the need to see Vickie and force her to tell all of her secrets. I couldn't help myself. I knew it was imperative.

"Carlisle, would you mind accompanying me to that pub around the campus?" I need to speak with Vickie, and I need to do it now."

Bella sent me a panicked look.

"Edward, you can't talk to Vickie about what she did for me in the park. She swore me to secrecy. Besides, she kind of knows you're investigating her. She may try to fool you just to teach you to mind your own business."

What? How did she know about that? This wasn't good. In fact, it was awful.

"Damn it, Bella! Why didn't you tell me this before?" I snapped.

"I was working on a way to tell you without you reacting so badly, Edward, that's why," she hissed.

"Shush, both of you!" Carlisle interrupted. "I will go to Murphy's with Edward, and we'll find a way to get Vickie to talk to us without raising her suspicions."

"We really know nothing about her, apart from the fact that she is dying, Carlisle. And that's the whole problem! The whole mystery surrounding her is making me edgier by the hour."

"Regardless, son, we will find an excuse and you will get to the bottom of it, I promise you," Carlisle said confidently.

"Let's go, then," I said, feeling my nerves calm a little.

"If Vickie learns that I had anything to do with you questioning her, you are so going to pay for it, Cullens!" Bella warned just before we left her alone in the room.

On our way to Murphy's, I explained that Vickie was going to be there because she was the singer for the band that performed every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

"_It sounds like that friend of yours is a woman of many talents," _Carlisle thought.

"It seems she is, yes," I replied. "Maybe even more so if what we discovered on the internet today was related to her as well."

"You never got a chance to tell me about that," Carlisle pointed out.

"That's because I was too pissed by Bella's attitude," I replied bluntly. "But here's the thing. We found out about a journalist who used to write for a French scientific magazine called _Science et Vous _and whose name was Vickie Villeneuve. From what I could get online, she wrote articles for the magazine for three years, from 2000 to 2003, and then she stopped abruptly. I found no other references to any Vickie Villeneuves after July 2003."

"That's odd," Carlisle muttered.

"Anyway, it's very unlikely that those hits on the net were referring to our friend. In 2000, she was only eleven years old," I stated.

"We can ask your Vickie if she knows about the journalist who bears the same name as her. It would be an innocent enough question to start with, don't you think?"

"We can give it a shot," I responded.

We parked the black Mercedes in the pub's driveway and entered the place. To my relief, Professor Letourneux was nowhere to be found. I didn't want him involved in the chat I planned to have with his daughter.

Carlisle and I found a table in the back of the dining room, but I was confident that wherever we sat, Vickie would notice us. In fact, everyone in the place stared at us as we made our way to the table. But honestly, how could they not? We were so much better looking than most of the local male population and we walked in without our mates.

I actually felt bad for the young men who were trying to have some fun tonight at Murphy's. The young ladies in the room had ignored everyone else since we'd entered the place, not that I could blame them. It was only natural: we were made to fascinate humans with all our attributes, even if we didn't use them as the rest of our kind did. Ironically, Carlisle and I were among the most stunning specimens of the immortal world, but we'd never utilized our charms to lure a woman for the purpose of drinking her blood. It had almost happened to me only once, with Bella. But I had found the strength to resist my vampire nature once I realized my feelings for her.

The announcer from the previous night came on stage to introduce Vickie. Tonight she had chosen a totally different song. When the band started to play, I recognized it to be a more recent piece, from maybe five years ago.

_Been given 24 hours to tie up_

_Loose ends to make amends_

_His eyes said it all I started to fall and the silence deafened_

_Heads spinning round no time to sit down just wanted to run _

_And run and run_

_Be careful they say don't wish life away, now I've one day_

_And I can't believe_

_How I've been wasting my time_

_In 24 hours they'll be laying flowers_

_On my life, it's over tonight_

_I'm not messing no I need your blessing_

_And your promise to live free_

_Please do it for me_

_Is there a heaven a hell and will I come back who can tell_

_Now I can see what matters to me it's as clear as crystal_

_The places I've been the people I've seen plans that I made start to fade_

_The sun's setting gold thought I would grow old, it wasn't to be_

_And I can't believe_

_How I've been wasting my time_

_In 18 hours they'll be laying flowers_

_On my life, it's over tonight_

_I'm not messing no I need your blessing_

_And your promise to live free_

_Please do it for me_

_In 13 hours they'll be laying flowers_

_On my life, it's over tonight_

_I'm not messing no I need your blessing_

_And your promise to live free_

_Please do it for me_

_I'm not alone, I sense it, I sense it_

_All that I said, I meant it, I meant it_

_And I can't believe_

_How much I've wasted my time_

_In just 8 hours they'll be laying flowers_

_On my life, it's over tonight_

_I'm not messing no I need your blessing_

_And your promise to live free_

_Please do it for me_

_In just 1 hour they'll be laying flowers_

_On my life, it's over tonight_

_I'm not messing no I need your blessing_

_And your promise to live free_

_Please do it for me_

After she was done with the song, Vickie gave the credits, although I was quite sure that everybody had heard of '24' by the singer Jem before. What was it with Vickie and her selection of songs? Singing that she was going to be dead in twenty-four hours! How prophetic, considering the circumstances.

Just as I had predicted, she noticed us, and less than one minute after she left the stage, she joined us at our table.

"It's hardly fair showing up like this, guys," she said, a look of mock indignation on her face. "I am the one performing, but who do you think the people in the pub are watching?"

"I will take that as a compliment, Vickie," I replied kindly. "Besides, only the ladies are staring at us at the moment. The male students and faculty members wish they could throw acid at our faces right now, especially since you crossed the entire dining room to join us."

While I was talking to Vickie, I tried not to look at her in the eyes. She was not looking at me, anyway. She was observing Carlisle, who seemed to be mesmerized by her.

"Aren't you going to introduce your friend to me, Edward?" she asked, her eyes locked on Carlisle's.

It was beginning to get awkward.

"Carlisle, this is Vickie Villeneuve, my classmate," I said, turning to my father, who suddenly broke off the connection with the young woman and commented in his head, _"I had no idea that your friend was so dazzling, Edward,"_ and then continued out loud, "Nice to meet you, Vickie. I am Carlisle Cullen, Edward's uncle."

Vickie stopped looking serious, and a huge smile took over her breathtaking features.

"You've got to be kidding me! No way," she said with the voice of a little girl.

"I know it sounds weird, Vickie," Carlisle went on, "but I look younger than I actually am. I will be thirty-three next month."

Carlisle was obviously trying to repel Vickie by mentioning their age difference, but it was clear that she wasn't the kind of girl who cared about things like that. She seemed to be the kind who could have her way with any man if she decided so; she reminded me of Tanya in that respect. I had to say something before Vickie got too interested in Carlisle. I hoped it wasn't too late.

"Vickie, my uncle is a married man, you know," I trailed off.

She turned to me, the smile gone from her lips.

"Yes I know, Edward," she answered, "I even met his daughter in the playground at twilight. She is quite a cutie, that Renesmee of yours, Carlisle," she added, looking at my adoptive father again.

She appeared to be upset, and I didn't know why. Still staring the other way, she continued. "Maybe now would be the time for you to enlighten me as to the reason for your presence here tonight."

I remained silent for a few seconds. I didn't want her to know that Bella had talked to me. But Carlisle explained, "Edward was wondering if you had heard about a journalist with the exact same name as you who has written articles for a scientific magazine."

"I don't read magazines, so I wouldn't know, Carlisle," she replied coldly but too fast, as if she had practiced that answer over and over again.

I didn't like her tone. It incensed me once again.

"So you went to the park where Bella takes Renesmee. How's that for a coincidence," I stated icily.

"Is that what this is about, Edward? Why it is that I'm always running into you Cullens, one way or the other?" Vickie snapped. "Why do I get the feeling that you know everything about what happened in the playground?"

"Because Bella told me," I admitted, infuriated.

"And why exactly are you mad at me, right now?" she asked. "Did Bella tell you that I saved her life and your daughter's life as well, Carlisle? There were three psychopaths in the park who wanted to rape them both, for God's sake!"

"We came here to thank you, Vickie," Carlisle confessed.

"Well, that's more like it, but I am not buying it, Carlisle."

"Fine, I'll tell you why I am here," I mumbled. "It's about you and the expression you had on your face yesterday when we first met."

"And it couldn't wait until tomorrow, during class?" she demanded, her anger slowly dissipating.

"Frankly, Miss Villeneuve, it can't wait one more minute."

I was on the edge of losing it and telling her I was a mind reader, just so she could get why I was so concerned.

"Jeez, Edward! Stop making that face, it's bugging me."

I was really losing the ability to mask my emotions when I was too close to that girl.

"Are you going to talk, yes or no?" I asked impatiently.

"Is it a matter of life or death or something?" she asked, taken aback. "You're not him, I know that, I'm not crazy…"

"Him? Who's him?" Carlisle asked, joining our heated discussion.

"It's a good thing that we have a witness, Edward, really," she said sarcastically, "because right now I just want to beat the crap out of you for forcing me on a trip down memory lane."

Now she was making me feel guilty. Was I being so mean to her?

"Vickie, you saw something yesterday. What was it?" I asked with my most luring, velvety voice.

"I saw my brother yesterday, Edward. Because guess what? You look freakishly exactly like him. Except that he's been dead for an awfully long time now," she responded with a broken voice.

So it wasn't me in the bloody bathtub, after all. And the only thing I had accomplished by coming back to Murphy's this evening was to turn a blade in a wound that was far from healed.

"I'm sorry, Vickie, I didn't know," I started.

"Of course you didn't know, Edward, how could you? You are not a psychic!" she muttered.

"Bella said nothing about that brother."

Why did I keep talking about her brother? Was it because Vickie seemed so emotionally strong? I had the impression that she was able to process whatever was thrown at her and knock it away to her advantage.

"She knows how to keep secrets, then…good for her," she whispered.

Yes, Bella had a reputation for keeping secrets. That was the story of her life…and my personal challenge. "Your brother…uh…did he take his own life?" I pushed further.

"Yes, but how do you know that, if Bella didn't mention it to you?" she asked, surprised by my question.

"You are a very insightful person, but so am I," I stated.

I couldn't let on to the gift which made me nearly infallible when it came to assessing the people I met. Knowing that fact about me would almost certainly make her run for her life, if nothing else did.

"We should have a contest, Edward. I bet I could beat you even if you are gifted," she replied with a wink.

It was lucky that I was already pale because her remark would have drained all the color from my face.

"So now I am gifted, Miss Newtown? How do you know?" I questioned innocently.

"Didn't I just tell you that you were the exact replica of my late brother, Edward?" she asked with a smile.

Carlisle seemed fascinated by our exchange but didn't want to interfere.

"Yes you did," I said. She had it wrong, obviously. Since her brother was born quite a while after me, he was clearly my replica.

"It so happens that Pierre-Luc, that was his name, was a young man of many talents, Edward. He was an accomplished musician and a hockey player. No one could engage him in a game of chess without being guaranteed of losing. He had a photographic memory, which came in very handy when he was studying medicine, and he was so insightful that I thought he could read people's minds. Though, of course, I could never prove it," Vickie concluded.

Wow, her description did match my profile indeed. But I couldn't admit it to her, could I? So I lied through my teeth.

"Well, Vickie, I'm not even old enough to attend medical school, and I am not sure I would get accepted to one anyway. Smart as you are, I am certain you've figured out by now that I have the privilege of being a student at Dartmouth only because of all the money my family has donated to the school."

"Are you done with your crap, Edward?" Vickie interrupted.

"What Edward told you is the truth, Vickie," Carlisle said. "He's always been a lazy student. Esme, my wife, and I could barely convince him not to drop out of high school. Thank goodness, he has Bella to help him stay on the right track."

"So, Carlisle, what you are telling me is that your adoptive son is a delinquent who needs a woman's grip to behave properly? By the way, Edward, how did the tutoring go with Bella?" she asked.

Bella was totally right about Vickie. We could never fool her, and she was the one who was going to lead us wherever she wanted. I didn't know what to expect anymore. She didn't wait for an answer. She went on.

"Let's make a deal, guys. I'll tell you how my brother died if you stop bullshitting me."

Did I want to know how her brother wound up dead in the bathtub? I was positive I could fill in the blanks myself. But then again, I was the one who had brought the damned suicide.

"I thought you wanted to rip me a new one for forcing you down 'memory lane', Vickie," I pointed out.

"I will probably do just that, after I am done giving away all my secrets, Edward."

She glanced at me for a fraction of a second, and I saw a man injecting her with a syringe in the darkness of a car.

"My brother Pierre-Luc had decided life wasn't worth living anymore. He thought he wasn't good enough at what he was doing. He was a second year intern at twenty-two, for Christ's sake! So he locked himself up in the bathroom, filled up the tub, cut his wrists and plunged half naked to his death. To this day, we don't know if he drowned or if he lost consciousness by losing too much blood…"

Vickie had used the pronoun _we_ in her last sentence. I had nonetheless been under the impression that there was no one else than her to mourn her brother.

"That's very sad, Vickie. How old were you when it happened?" I asked.

"I was thirteen at the time," she answered, looking in front of her, where the band was waiting for her, it seemed.

Time was running out for us. "And what do you want to know about me, in exchange?" I questioned.

"I want to know why you are investigating me, Edward," she said straightforwardly.

And then she stood up and returned on the stage to sing yet another depressing piece.

_Extreme ways are back again_

_Extreme places I didn't know_

_I broke everything new again_

_Everything that I'd owned_

_I threw it out the windows, came along_

_Extreme ways I know move apart_

_The colors of my sea_

_Perfect color me_

_Extreme ways that help me_

_That help me out late at night_

_Extreme places I had gone_

_But never seen any light_

_Dirty basements, dirty noise_

_Dirty places coming through_

_Extreme worlds alone_

_Did you ever like it then_

_I would stand in line for this_

_There's always room in life for this_

_Oh baby, oh baby_

_Then it fell apart, it fell apart_

_Oh baby, oh baby_

_Then it fell apart, it fell apart_

_Oh baby, oh baby_

_Then it fell apart, it fell apart_

_Oh baby, oh baby_

_Like it always does, always does_

_Extreme songs that told me_

_They helped me down every night_

_I didn't have much to say_

_I didn't get above the light_

_I closed my eyes and closed myself_

_And closed my world and never opened_

_Up to anything_

_That could get me along_

_I had to close down everything_

_I had to close down my mind_

_Too many things to cover me_

_Too much can make me blind_

_I've seen so much in so many places_

_So many heartaches, so many faces_

_So many dirty things_

_You couldn't even believe_

_I would stand in line for this_

_It's always good in life for this_

_Oh baby, oh baby_

_Then it fell apart, it fell apart_

_Oh baby, oh baby_

_Then it fell apart, it fell apart_

_Oh baby, oh baby_

_Then it fell apart, it fell apart_

_Oh baby, oh baby_

_Like it always does, always does…_

So Vickie was a teenager when her brother died. Why had she said that it was an awfully long time ago? No matter how one looked at it, seven years were far from a colossal period of time, and even less so from my own perspective. And she wanted to know why I was investigating her. I didn't have any choice since I had given her my word. But if I told her the truth, and there was no way out of it, I would have to tell her that she was dying. Could I do that?

**This chapter was featuring '24' by Jem and 'Extreme Ways' by Moby.**

**My lovely betas LadyMacKenzie and Just4ALE helped me a great deal to improve my writing. Thanks.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I don't know what Stephenie Meyer would think of the way I'm dealing with the characters of her Twilight saga, but no matter what they do, they still belong to her. However, the joy of using them in my story belongs to me.**

Chapter 9

More revelations

**BPOV**

I didn't know when Edward and Carlisle would return home. It all depended on Vickie's reaction to Edward's questions. Therefore, I decided to start my reading assignment for Mr. Sterling's class. What else was left for me to do anyway? Rosalie and Emmett were spending most of their evenings at their place, probably making love like crazy since it was such a huge part of what made their relationship so strong and kept it from failing. As for me, right now I was glad that sex was not the only thing that made my marriage work, otherwise my life at the moment would be desperately boring, if not pointless.

Since I was the one responsible for my current relationship status, I had to endure it and try my best to hide my frustration. It was ridiculous to be so dissatisfied just because I had gone one night without losing myself to my husband's bedroom skills. It was driving me nuts to think that I had worsened the situation this afternoon, but I simply couldn't share my bed with a man who was incapable of showing some sympathy toward someone we knew and who was irrevocably dying.

But then again, maybe that's what Edward had been all along: a cold and indifferent immortal who had mastered the art of deception, acting good or bad depending on the circumstance.

Could I have been that blind during those few years since I had become part of his world? No, of course not. Carlisle and Esme would not be so fond of someone so selfish and unconcerned. Not to mention that Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie would resent him, they wouldn't seek his advice or agree with his assessment of a particular situation. Why was I lingering on Edward's conduct so irrationally? I needed to stop these counterproductive thoughts so I turned to my reading. The first book on my list was _The Road_ by Cormac McCarthy. I flipped it open to get an idea of what this fiction was about. The journey of a man and his son after an apocalyptic event. Huh! With that kind of story, I'd escape from reality all right, but only to find myself in a more depressing place. And yet, I dutifully started the novel, in the quietness of our room, lying down on the bed. It was past midnight, a period of the day that had me nostalgic for my time as a human, when I could sleep and forget everything that made me sad. Except for the six months when my nights had been filled in with nightmares, that is.

I was half through with my reading when I realized that I wasn't alone in the bedroom anymore. I turned around and saw Edward in the reclining chair, still like a statue and watching me silently. He also seemed to be meditating on something.

"Crap, Edward! How long have you been spying on me like this?" I said nervously.

"I'm not spying on you, love. I'm just feasting my eyes with all I can get of you," he replied.

He was probably alluding to the nightgown I distractedly adorned before starting the book.

"So, how did it go?" I asked, attempting to avoid any further arousing comments out of him. I didn't let him answer and went on, "Does Vickie want to punch me in the face for telling her secrets?"

"Well, all things considered, you didn't tell us much this evening," he said.

I frowned at Edward's remark, and tried to remember our earlier exchange. I had recounted the attack in the playground and the fact that Vickie had two young brothers. But it was true that Vickie had told me much more than what I'd reported. She had talked about her mom, about an older brother who had committed suicide, and about her dad who was a widower.

"I didn't have the chance to tell you everything, Edward; you were too eager to find out by yourself…," I trailed off.

"And believe me, I found out a lot, tonight. More than I bargained for, I must say," he responded.

"How so?" I asked. Maybe what he had discovered was the reason for his thoughtful expression.

"First and foremost, I learned that Vickie had a brother who was my spitting image, and obviously, it was him that I saw in Vickie's mind, not me," Edward answered flatly.

Holy crow! Could the mystery surrounding Vickie get any weirder?

"Oh!" I exclaimed. "Isn't it good news, then?"

"Not really, Bella, even if it explains a lot," he sighed.

I couldn't figure out why Edward was so gloomy about Vickie's brother.

"Did she tell you that he killed himself?" I demanded.

"Yes, and the images that were flashing at me were related to his suicide. Vickie told me that he cut his wrists before plunging in the bathtub. But there is more to the whole thing, I can sense it," Edward replied, still uneasy.

"What do you mean?" I asked, intrigued.

"Did Vickie, by any chance, tell you that her brother died a very long time ago, Bella?" my husband asked, staring at me very seriously.

"Yes, why?"

Where was he going with his question?

"Vickie was thirteen when she lost her brother. Assuming that she is now twenty, would you say that seven years is a large amount of time, love?"

"Not for a vampire, of course," I said, "but maybe from a human perspective…"

"Anyhow, there was something else that was odd when we chatted with her in between songs," Edward went on.

"What, now?" I asked, trying to maintain interest. But truthfully, I was more interested in returning to _The Road_ and its hungry human characters who were feeding on their own kind.

"Never mind, Bella, I can't read your mind if you won't allow me, but I still can read your face perfectly," he replied almost aggressively.

That reminded me of the face **he **was making when I had acknowledged his presence in the room.

"Edward, now you're sort of mad at me, but a few minutes ago, you were preoccupied-"

"Why should I bother to tell you when you're not interested to begin with?" Edward interrupted.

Truth be told, right now the only thing I wanted to do with Edward was the one thing I had told him he was not going to get for a long time. I bit my lower lip to prevent tipping him off about this fact. If Edward knew what was going on in my mind, he could take advantage of my weakening will and have his way with me.

The silence was deafening for a moment and then he spoke. "I care about Vickie, you know, and that's why I am concerned, actually." He paused. "She wants to know why I'm trying to dig up stuff about her."

"So you told her?" I hissed.

"I didn't have to tell her anything, Bella, because you were right," he said cryptically.

"Right about what?" I asked, confused.

"Right about the fact that the girl has a sixth sense or something that makes her extra perceptive. We tried to fool her into believing I wasn't the Renaissance man she thought I was, but she wouldn't take any of our lies. So in the end, she made a deal with us. She told us how her brother died – not that I asked since I already knew – and in exchange I had to tell her why I was on her case. And now that I have promised her, I'll have to confess that my curiosity started because I can read her mind. So tell me, Bella, should I feel relaxed right now, or what?"

It was a rhetorical question, but I wanted to comfort him. He seemed about to lose his legendary composure.

"Surely there must be a different reason that you can come up with that will appease her, Edward. You're a good liar," I said encouragingly.

"It won't work with her! I already told you she knows when someone is trying to fool her!" Edward snapped.

I'd had more than enough of his bad temper for one day. Sensing I hadn't seen the last of it, I got up from the bed and walked to the door. But he was there in a fraction of a second, while I was moving at a human pace, God knows why.

"Where do you think you are going, darling?" he whispered in my ear.

Oh, oh! That wasn't good.

"I'm going to the study to finish my book," I replied quietly.

"And what if I asked you to stay with me, Bella?"

I looked him in the eyes. They were dark amber and filled with desire, and maybe something else, something less civilized…

"I don't like your attitude, Edward," I mumbled, starting to feel dizzy.

"And I don't like your punishment, Bella. It's turning me into a jerk," he answered wryly.

"You've got that right!" I spat out heatedly.

"I need you, love. Besides, you're not playing by the rules. Look at what you're wearing. You are seducing me," he said, his voice betraying his longing.

Darn it! What was I thinking when I had changed for the night? Tonight of all nights! Was it possible that my subconscious had taken over, driving me to wear the tight and sleeveless blue satin dress that Edward was noticing? How ambiguous a signal was that from a woman who was trying to make her husband abstain from sex?

"I'll go put something else on, Edward. I'm sorry, it wasn't my intention to arouse you," I said, looking down so he couldn't see how conflicted I was.

But he wouldn't open the door to let me go. Not that it mattered anymore since my walk-in was in the room, not outside, and since I felt I had lost all my will anyway. He put a finger under my chin and gently made me look at him again.

"Where are we going to end up if you continue acting so stubbornly, Bella?" he asked.

So now it was my fault?

Actually, he was right, it was mostly my fault. And I didn't want to lose another night, even though I'd tried my best to make him believe I wasn't turned on. It had all been in vain. Obviously the expression on my face and my body language had given me away. He knew I was craving him.

He didn't wait for an answer. He bent his head and began kissing me fervently. Oh well, what the heck! I was almost combusting already. I threw my arms around his neck, and returned his kiss with even more passion before securing my legs around his waist. I felt a soft wind in my hair, and the next second we were lying on the bed, doing the things I had been thinking about ever since he had returned from Murphy's. Carpe diem.

**oooooo**

**EPOV**

I was pretty sure that Bella would agree with me that our Friday schedule was fairly light. We had only two hours of contemporary literature in the morning, and two hours of linear algebra in the afternoon.

It was noon, and we were walking across the Dartmouth Green, having fun as if nothing had happened between us over the course of the past few days. Bella was enjoying herself like a little girl, fooling around and daring me to catch her when she started running. In order to make her movements look human, she did everything in slow motion. She was a natural at it. She had always been able to adjust quite easily.

Our little play time led us to a more remote area of the campus. It was yet another arboretum, but a more compact one. It almost looked like a small forest out of place, located between the Computer Science Center and the girls' dormitory. At first I thought we were alone among the trees, just the two of us, but then I heard laughs coming from behind a bush. Oh boy! Was this college year going to be a revival of my time attending Yale in the seventies? A few seconds passed, and Bella was at my side, watching me with a questioning expression.

"Shhh!" I whispered. "There is someone hiding in the bushes."

And then, we heard someone laughing louder. It was a female voice… a familiar female voice. Bella pulled my shirt to signal that we leave whoever was there alone, but it was too late for that. A couple was making out right by my feet because I was still walking forward when she had grabbed me. The two people passionately absorbed in kissing intensely and repeatedly were no other than Vickie Villeneuve and Alain Letourneux, her father.

I cleared my throat purposely. "Ahem!"

The astronomy teacher abruptly stopped what he was doing, pushed Vickie gently to his side – she was straddling him during their intimate moment –and slowly sat up.

"Bordel de merde!" I heard Vickie swear.

"That's an understatement," I replied.

"Tell me it's not what I think it is, Vickie," Bella said, shocked.

"It's not what you think it is," the professor answered for her.

"Gosh! How could I have been so wrong about you, Professor?" Bella went on, addressing the astrophysicist without letting him justify his behavior. "I thought you were a great teacher, but you're just a sick pervert!"

"I understand why you're disappointed, Isabella, and I can't blame you. It may look odd to someone who is not acquainted with our story-" he explained.

Bella cut him off. "I know your story, Professor Letourneux. Your daughter told me all about it. But it's no excuse for what we just witnessed."

"Actually, you don't know the entire story, Bella," Vickie replied. "In fact, nobody knows the real story."

She stood up to face us.

"We lied to you the other night, like we have lied to everyone else on the campus. Professor Letourneux is not my father. He is my husband."

Vickie's words took a few seconds to sink into my mind.

"Well, Vickie, if you are expecting my approval, you won't get it," I said, before returning my attention to the Daniel Day-Lewis' dead ringer. "So, Professor, why couldn't you find a woman your own age?"

"What kind of a question is that, Edward?" Vickie shot me a furious glare.

I was not exactly the right person to judge her, with a gap of more than eighty-five years between Bella and me. But she didn't know that.

"Maybe we should tell Edward and Isabella the whole story, Vickie," the astronomer stated. "I really don't like passing as a pervert, even if it's not as bad as being an incestuous father."

"Be my guest, Alain, but I don't think they'll believe it anyway," Vickie responded.

Professor Letourneux's mind had been very difficult to read for the last few minutes because he was thinking of many things at the same time: what Bella and I were doing in that secluded area of the campus, his sons who had woken up this morning with a fever, the paper he was still not done with. But now, he was meditating on what to say and how to explain whatever he would tell us.

"Try me," I said.

What was so damn hard to confess? Vickie looked very serious and also kind of sad.

"I still need to know why you're investigating me, Edward; you made a promise. Afterwards, we'll tell you everything," she said.

"If I tell you, you won't believe me either," I replied with a low voice.

But apparently, it was not up to me to decide whether or not I should reveal the truth to Vickie. Bella did it for me, probably tired of all the secrecy.

"Edward was intrigued by what he saw in your head, Vickie," she admitted.

"What's with my head?" Vickie questioned, taken by surprise.

"I thought it was me that you were seeing in your mind, Vickie," I continued, unwillingly, but having no choice now that Bella had talked.

"So you truly are a mind reader, then?" she asked.

"Yes, I can read minds. Usually I hear and see what people are thinking, but it doesn't work with you. I just see flashing pictures in your mind, and only if I make eye contact with you."

"And you saw it when I was thinking about how much you reminded me of Pierre-Luc?"

"I saw your brother in a pool of blood, and I thought it was me," I explained.

"Well, that much I can understand…," she trailed off.

"Vickie, let's make it clear, here, shall we? If I had known from the beginning that I wasn't the subject of your visions, I would have left you alone, believe me."

"The way you say it, it sounds as if you've been stalking me, Edward," she said with a small smile.

"So, Vickie," the professor joined in the conversation, "Pierre-Luc looked exactly like Edward?"

"Yes, he did," she answered impassively.

"How come you're not surprised by Edward's revelations, Vickie?" Bella asked, puzzled.

"I told you that I had my doubts regarding his abilities," she said plainly.

"But now that you know why I was curious about you, you have to tell me **your** secret, Miss Villeneuve, or is it Mrs. Letourneux?" I pointed out.

"Let's see what you can get from my husband's thoughts, instead," Vickie said with a grin.

Okay, she wanted to test me. I would give her as much as I could get from the astronomer's brain. I didn't even have to concentrate, as he did everything to help me. He was remembering the birth of his sons, and then I saw who the mother was. The mother was Vickie, only she didn't seem to be quite as young in the professor's memories. Then he showed me his kids as they grew, but in the images where Vickie was with them, I could see that she hadn't aged a bit. In fact, she was looking younger and younger as her sons got older. At that moment, it became crystal clear why she was dying: something in her genes made her regress in age. At some point, she wouldn't be a young woman anymore: she would be a teenager, then a little girl, then a toddler, and so on, until she regressed to nonexistence.

"You were right, Vickie," I declared after a moment. "Someone else wouldn't believe your story."

"What did you just see, Edward?" Bella questioned, anxious.

"Mostly, that Professor Letourneux has known Vickie for more years than one might think. She's the mother of his kids," I responded. "How old are you Vickie?"

"I'll be forty in December," she responded in the same fashion as if I had asked her at what time our next class was. No wonder why she had said that her brother had died a very long time ago. He had died twenty-seven years ago!

"I don't understand," Bella said.

"My wife has a mysterious disease that is making her younger instead of aging like everyone else," the astronomy teacher explained.

"When did you start to reverse in age?" I continued asking.

"I was thirty-three, and I have lost about twelve years over the past six. So basically, I'll be dead in ten years."

"We won't let that happen!" Bella exclaimed, and if she still could, I was sure she would have burst into tears at that moment.

"Bella," Vickie replied quietly, "you barely know me. Why are you reacting like that?"

"Carlisle will find a cure, Vickie. It's in your genes, so there must be a way to reverse the mutation," Bella was almost sobbing.

"What mutation?" Vickie cut her off, staggered.

"We analyzed your DNA, and we found out that whatever it is that you have is caused by a mutation in your genes," I confessed.

"How could you venture to do that without my consent?" Vickie asked, angry now. "How did you know there was something wrong with me in the first place?"

That was definitely not a question I could answer. _By the way, Vickie, humans usually are very appetizing to us because of their scent, and it so happens that you smell like nothing at all…_

"As I said, you are just flashing pictures on and off in my head, Vickie, and I can't process them, they are just glimpse after glimpse of your life," I answered instead.

"Don't you two have some more interesting stuff to do in your spare time? So I'll die of young age, no big deal, you know. Plus, I could die much sooner in a freak accident or a terrorist attack, like anyone else…"

"Vickie," her husband tried to calm her down, "these young people are showing compassion towards your ordeal, and all you can do is reply that you don't care if you die prematurely?"

"Think about your two little boys," Bella said.

"It's better if I don't think too much about Ian and Joel, actually," she replied cynically.

But then, Bella seemed to remember something.

"Vickie, was it you who wrote those articles in that French magazine called _Science & Vous_?"

Vickie raised an eyebrow. "Do you speak French, Bella?"

"No, but Edward does, and he translated the articles for me. He said they were very well written and quite instructive."

"Well, I hope so, considering that I used to be a scientific journalist, in addition to being a twelfth grade math teacher," Vickie disclosed.

"And how did you end up in Hanover? Why did you stop writing in the summer of 2003?" I questioned.

"You know too much about me already, Mr. Cullen," she said in a low voice.

She took her husband's hand and began to walk away from us. Alain Letourneux grabbed her by the waist and kissed her lightly on the neck. Now I understood why they had to hide what appeared to be such a dubious relationship. And if I had decided to stay platonic with Bella and not been forced to change her, we would probably have been plagued with the same kind of clandestine liaisons after a couple of years. What would their marriage mean in two years? In five years? It wouldn't mean anything anymore when Vickie looked like a fifth grader. Meanwhile, Bella and I had eternity to enjoy each other in every way possible.

**Thanks to my betas LadyMacKenzie and Just4ALE. Because of you, I'm able to see myself as an author.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Last time I checked, I was not Stephenie Meyer so I don't own the Twilight characters.**

Chapter 10

Meeting over Skype

**EPOV**

Alice and Jasper had been traveling all over the old continent for two months now, and they weren't due back for another three. Esme had been very specific with her requests, giving them a list of places to go to find the antiques that she wanted to furnish the compound. Every Friday evening, for the past eight weeks, we had been communicating with them via Skype.

Most of the time my chats with Alice had been very short, since my sister wanted to have a word with everyone in the house. We often ended up talking for only five minutes, sometimes even less. But tonight it would be much longer than that… it had to be: so many things had happened since the last time we had spoken. I would also need to be patient and wait my turn. I was sure Alice would want to chat with Bella first. All the family was reunited in the mansion's living room, including Emmett and Rose, who were spending the night with us for a change, to be ready to leave first thing in the morning for our hunting trip.

Carlisle was trying to establish the communication. I was just behind him when Jasper's face appeared on the screen.

"Hey! Carlisle, Edward. What's up?" Jasper asked.

He seemed incredibly relaxed and peaceful, the total opposite of how I felt at the moment. However, in theory, he should have been under much more stress than I was. Esme had instructed them to start their journey in Russia, where she had already made arrangements with some antique dealers over the internet and the phone. They just had to go to the places Esme contacted, evaluate the items wanted, and buy them if they were in pristine condition. Nothing complicated there, except for the fact that the number of such antique dealers they had to visit in the former communist republic alone exceeded fifty. So tonight, Jasper was Skyping us from a hotel room in Moscow.

He didn't let Carlisle say a word before going on, "Did Esme receive the last shipment we sent her? Fifteen items from five distinct places located in three different towns. Man, I thought Customs would give us a hard time with such a huge load of furniture to check before giving their approval. But you know Alice when she decides things are going to be the way she wants them to be. At some point I just stopped asking her how much she had to bribe. I guess it doesn't matter to Esme, right?"

"With all the money she has already spent on the renovations, no, I don't think she minds, Jasper. Give the Customs agents whatever they want," Carlisle replied.

"Are you all right, Edward?" Jasper asked, seeing me right next to Carlisle at that instant, "You look overly concerned…"

Nothing could go unnoticed by Jasper, even over a web cam. Darn it.

"I'm fine, man. Just been through a lot this week, that's all," I answered evasively.

"Get a grip, boy. Bella will need you more than ever during those first weeks of college, you know that," he said.

"Actually, Jasper, Bella is doing quite well so far. She is angry at me about the science courses she has to take, but other than that she is amazing, really," I reassured him.

He was probably afraid of her reactions towards the humans we were in contact with on a daily basis. Yet he was the first one to admit that the way she was behaving was almost beyond normal for a vampire. I was about to tell him that Bella was acting exemplary at Dartmouth, but then Emmett, who was making out with Rosalie on one of the blue velvet couches, suddenly put an end to what he was doing and came closer to the computer.

"Jasper, bro," he boomed, "can't you and Alice speed things up and come back here before Christmas? Hell, Edward and Bella are so absorbed in the whole college shit, that they are not doing anything else but studying their ass off!"

"You need to find a better excuse than that, Emmett," Jasper said, suppressing a laugh. "I really don't think Edward needs to study much, especially since he's already gone through all that stuff before. Last time I checked, physics' laws were still being unchallenged…"

"It's not my fault if Professor Sterling gave us twenty books to read before the end of the semester," Bella remarked, a little offended by Emmett's comment.

"Professor Sterling is still teaching at Dartmouth?" Jasper asked. "God, he must be almost as old as Edward. He used to teach nineteenth century literature back in the sixties. Remember, brother?"

Yes, as a matter of fact, I remembered Professor Sterling perfectly. He was extremely old now, and hopefully his memory wasn't good, otherwise that could become a problem. There was a reason why we waited many decades before returning to a place that we had attended previously: it was to limit the chances that a professor who had been teaching us then was still teaching now. It was one thing to cross path with someone who had known the Cullens as a family among many other families. It was entirely another to meet a person who used to be our teacher and knew a little more than just our surname.

Not that I had been close to that particular literature teacher. For obvious reasons, proximity to any of the faculty members who taught me one subject or another was impossible. I had always kept a low profile, trying to sweep the attention away from me. But try as I might, my face was not easily forgettable. And the essays that I had done in Professor Sterling's class in the sixties had never been returned to me. I was an arrogant scholar at the time, and I wanted to impress and get the highest grades I could. Heck, what was the point in going to college if it was to fail horrendously? To this day, I didn't regret my efforts. However, the fact that one of my former professors was still teaching meant that while I could sit in on his lectures, I couldn't do the assignments: I could only help Bella with hers.

Then again, what were the chances that he would remember me? If I had been absent every other day back then, as Jasper had, the chances would be slim-to-none.

"The question, Jazz, is how **you** remember Professor Sterling, considering that you missed half of his lectures, too worried about your lack of control and about attacking someone right in the middle of a _Jane Eyre_ quotation," I responded.

Suddenly, I saw Alice in the corner of the screen, coming from an adjacent room of the suite she and Jasper were occupying at the Hilton Leningradskaya. Apparently, she had just realized that Jasper was Skyping. She jumped into his lap and smiled broadly at me.

"Oh! Carlisle, I need to talk to Edward privately, if you don't mind," she said in a high pitched voice.

Well, maybe she had seen something after all. Carlisle made a move to give up his seat to me and said, "I must warn you, Alice, that whatever it is you want to discuss with Edward, will likely be heard by the rest of us, unless Edward has developed the capacity to read your mind over the internet lately."

Ha, ha! Carlisle was definitely in a better mood than me tonight. I hadn't told him that Vickie knew about my gift yet. He was about to learn it at the same time as Alice and everyone else.

"Actually, Carlisle, as long as Edward doesn't mind, I don't have any problem with you listening as well," she replied. And then she addressed me. "Edward, I've seen you and Bella making friends with a girl on campus. Why would you do that?"

What exactly had Alice seen to ask me such a question? It was not as if I had been going up to all the students and introducing myself so that I'd be voted the most popular guy at Dartmouth. Christ, Vickie had acted as if we were old acquaintances from the first moment she saw us that second day on campus. She seemed totally oblivious to the fact that we were different from the other people around her. She could have been blind, for that matter. Maybe it was all part of her strange condition.

"If you are talking about the girl who looks like a Japanese manga, Alice, she came to us, not the other way around." I was amazed that Alice was so attuned to me that it was almost as if she was both in Europe and in New England at the same time.

"Edward, you told her about your gift! What were you thinking?" she demanded, getting straight to the point.

"You did what?" Esme asked, the panic altering her voice. I ignored her reaction and pretended it was just between Alice and me.

"Alice, do you know about the girl's condition?" I asked.

"That she's regressing in age? Yes, Edward, I know about it," she responded.

"Since when?"

"Since I saw her husband explaining it to you this afternoon," she retorted.

"Well, Alice, why are you blaming me for revealing my gift to her? Bella told her, not me," I said.

Instantly, I regretted my response, because Bella didn't deserve to be blamed for this messy situation. All she wanted was to help the human girl.

However, it was too late. Rosalie hissed, "Is that true, Bella? You told the stupid mortal that Edward is a mind reader?"

"Yes, Rosalie, because it was the only way she was going to tell us her secret," Bella stated, trying to justify her actions.

"Who cares about that girl's secret, Bella?" Rosalie growled angrily.

"And who cares about Edward's gift, Rose?" Bella replied with the same infuriated tone.

"Ordinary people don't read minds!" Rosalie almost screamed at the love of my life.

I would have set the sofa where Rose was lying on fire at that moment if Emmett hadn't intervened.

"Calm down, Rosie. You are taking this whole shebang way too seriously. I don't want you to think that you have to go on a crusade against Bella's friend. The last time you thought we'd been exposed, you were ready to kill Bella yourself and…"

Emmett stopped mid-sentence when he saw the expression on my face. Bella was looking at the two of us, frowning.

"Emmett is talking about that time when you almost got killed by Tyler's van, love," I started to explain. "To be honest, all of us thought that you were going to tell everyone at school that I had supernatural powers after the incident. Rosalie was so afraid that our cover was going to be blown up, that she wanted to make you disappear before you had time to spread the rumor."

"I told you I wasn't going to tell anyone!" Bella replied, staring at me with indignation. "Gosh! Up until now I knew I was lucky to be still alive, but I didn't know the extent of that luck," she added sarcastically.

"But thanks to Alice, we decided to just wait and see what was going to happen, and it all ended up well," I concluded.

I didn't want to reminisce about my life in Forks before Bella had entered our lives; I wanted to find out why Alice was so worked up about our friendship with Vickie. But, evidently, Bella wasn't done with Rosalie.

"Rose, if you think that Vickie Villeneuve is about to figure out what we are, you're wrong. She has no clue whatsoever," she stated quietly.

"Alice," Carlisle interrupted, attempting to stop Rosalie from escalating the situation any further, "what did you say about the girl regressing in age?"

"Ask Edward about the details, Carlisle. That's not what bothers me right now," Alice replied harshly.

"Alice!" Jasper interjected at last. "Why are you being so rude to Carlisle? Sorry, guys," he said directly to the web cam, "Alice has been anxious ever since she had her visions this evening."

"Is there more to them then just our conversation with Vickie and her husband?" I asked, beginning to feel anxious myself.

"I will come back to you when you are done enlightening Carlisle about your friend's condition, Edward," Alice answered flatly.

"All right, then," I said, turning to my father, "Vickie will die because she is getting younger every passing day, Carlisle."

"_I have never heard of such a disorder, Edward," _he responded in his head.

Why didn't he want the others to know about that?

"Oh!" he exclaimed out loud. "Well, now at least I know what the consequences of the mutation are. But it still doesn't explain why her blood is odorless."

"I will try to get a sample of her blood, Carlisle. I'm curious too," I replied.

"If only analyzing her blood could lead you to find a cure, Carlisle," Bella sighed.

"Edward," Alice called out, "how can you be sure Vickie won't start to connect the dots now that she's aware of your gift?"

"Because she doesn't see the dots, Alice. Trust me, everything is going to be all right with regard to our cover-"

She cut me off, "Then why the hell do I keep seeing all of us going to the Volturi, Edward?"

No one talked or moved for seconds after her last sentence. It was like she had dropped a bomb in our lounge: Hiroshima at the Cullen house. And a conundrum for which I had no answer, not a satisfying one anyway.

"Oh, God! Tell me I heard it wrong, Edward!" Rosalie snapped, breaking the deafening silence after a minute.

"Whatever it is that you saw, Alice, you know as well as I do that it's not sealed in concrete. It can change," I tried to reassure her.

"Edward, you'd better do something about it for the sake of your daughter!" she said abruptly. Then the screen went black.

"All of this is my fault!" Bella started to apologize.

"Darling, you did what you did because you care about that young mortal. We all understand your reasons," Esme said gently to comfort her daughter-in-law.

"I'm at a loss here, brother," Emmett admitted to me.

Of course, they had yet to hear about what had transpired on the campus, so I relayed what had occurred earlier that day. I informed them that we had caught Vickie in a deep embrace with our astronomy teacher, who turned out not to be her dad, but her husband, making her the mother of his sons, not their sister. I explained that Vickie was willing to explain why she was married to an older man, but that she wanted to know first why I was investigating her. Bella helped me explain the events, stating that she didn't think Vickie would react badly if she knew about my gift, and she was right: our friend barely reacted when I had admitted I was a telepath. This then led to the revelation that she had a mysterious disease and she knew she was dying from it.

"So, it all started because I thought I was the subject of Vickie's visions. Then we discovered that she had a brother who looked exactly like me, who committed suicide more than twenty-five years ago. Finally, it ended up that Vickie is actually a forty-year old mother who used to be a math teacher and a scientific journalist. The only thing that remains a mystery is the fact that Vickie's blood doesn't have a scent, which is why Carlisle and I want to analyze it. The next time I see her, I'll try to convince her to give me a blood sample, in case we can find a way to help her. For now, if it's okay with you, let's not think about it anymore while we are away on our hunting trip," I concluded.

All of my family agreed with my suggestion, except Rosalie, who grabbed Renesmee in her arms, and took her to bed still outraged. I thought the week had been long. Now I knew the weekend would be even longer.

**My chapters have been improved lately thanks to my betas LadyMacKenzie and Just4ALE.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I don't own the Twilight characters, wish I did, but I just own a computer that can't run without power. I also have a huge obsession with this fiction, and it wouldn't leave my mind alone until it's written down somewhere. Might as well make you benefit from it...**

Chapter 11

Rebooting the past

**EPOV**

The weekend had come and gone, and it was Monday morning, at last. I had been thinking of a justification to see Vickie ever since that talk with Alice on Friday night. But to be honest, there was not much left to say to our classmate, now that we knew what was wrong with her. We obviously needed to learn more about her disorder, which, according to Carlisle, was not even documented in the medical world. And I was also concerned because of Alice's visions about the Volturi. We didn't want to get involved with those opportunistic rulers ever again, so why would my whole family go to them in the future? Alice had warned me to do something about it, as if I was responsible for whatever would force us to seek advice from such unscrupulous creatures. Clearly, there was no way we would fly to Italy just to say hello to a bunch of vampires who were killing hundreds of tourists every year in order to survive, and who, after three thousand years, looked more like stone than like real people anyway. It would have to be a very serious matter that forced that course of action, and I just couldn't imagine one right now.

Today, my goal was to convince Vickie that we might be able to find a cure for her condition if she let us analyze her blood. It wasn't a lie, considering that the more tests performed on her, the more chances for Carlisle to actually find a remedy for the disease. Just thinking about Bella's reaction to curing Vickie made me smile all the way from our mansion to the campus. After our electricity and electromagnetism class, Bella agreed to study in the science library again, and her face lit up when I told her to wait for me in one of the secluded cubicles.

We didn't have linear algebra on our schedule, so only two options were left for me to find Vickie. 1) I could scan all the students' minds to see if someone had seen her, but that could take a while. Or, 2) I could simply go to Professor Letourneux and ask him if he knew of his wife's whereabouts. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of having a chat with the astrophysicist. I headed to his office, which was located in the same building we had just had our physics course. The astronomer's workplace was a lot smaller than Carlisle's, I realized very quickly, peeking in the door that was left ajar. I decided I would ask the teacher about his work for starters. I knocked at the door to make him aware of my presence, and entered the room.

"Edward! What a nice surprise to see you here," Professor Letourneux said with a genuine smile. Since Friday, he knew he couldn't play me.

"You're actually pleased to see me, Professor. Why is that?" I asked, curious.

His head was full of anxiety regarding his wife, so maybe he thought I could be helpful somehow.

"I don't get why you have to ask, Edward. You already know what I am thinking right now," the astronomer stated.

"Yes, but I don't want you to think of me as an intruder, Mr. Letourneux," I explained.

"All the same, you are aware of the fact that I am extremely concerned about Vickie."

"Do you want to talk about it, Professor?" I asked. "It must be hard to have to keep your true relationship with her a secret here."

"More than you can know, Edward," he answered flatly.

That, evidently, could not be farther from the truth, my life being entirely built on secrecy. But, of course, Alain Letourneux didn't know it.

"Well, Professor, my being a mind reader is not something that I tell to everyone I meet, so I can relate a little to your situation," I responded with a slight smile.

"Right you are, of course. And please, call me Alain," he whispered, before continuing louder. "So I was wondering, since Vickie talks to you, if you could try to convince her to be checked by a doctor…"

The implications of the space scientist's last sentence were numerous and disturbing. He had told us about Vickie's mysterious disease the other day, but now he was telling me that she hadn't gone to a doctor. He was also insinuating that Vickie didn't speak with him. Or, maybe, I was misinterpreting what he had just said.

"What do you mean, exactly, when you say that Vickie talks to me? Doesn't she talk to you as well?" I asked.

"Vickie doesn't want to have real conversations with me anymore, Edward. It all started when we discovered that there was something wrong with her, two years after we moved to New England," the astrophysicist answered. "She was supposed to be thirty-five at the time, but she definitely looked younger than that."

The scientist seemed very affected by what he had just revealed to me. But it was pretty clear why Vickie would stop communicating with Alain after finding out she was dying. She wanted to put some distance between her and her husband because she knew the relationship she had with him would come to an end and she was trying to make things easier by shutting him off already.

"But you understand what she is trying to do, don't you, Alain?" I had to ask.

"She wants to put a wall between the two of us because she thinks that if there is nothing left of our former bond - well, not exactly nothing since we are still connecting in certain ways as you witnessed the other day - I won't feel as much sadness and pain when she is gone," he said blankly. "But the thing is," he added with some kind of resentment, "she's wrong. And we've lost four years of our life because of her silly behavior!"

"She succeeded in making you feel mad at her, that's for sure," I trailed off with a bit of sarcasm. But I regained a very serious and empathic expression in less than a second.

I wanted to feel indifferent to the astronomer's affliction, but it was too late for that. Bella's compassion had impacted me. Emmett had been right: I was completely losing my capacity to act like the monster I was supposed to be.

"Isn't it pathetic, Edward?" he said after a moment. "I mean, you come here to ask me something, and instead of listening to you, I am giving details on my private life, which surely you don't give a damn about."

"You want Vickie to be checked by a doctor, Alain," I interrupted him. "Is it because my uncle happens to be one, or is it just a coincidence? And why has she not been seen by a specialist when you realized she was sick?"

"My wife is very stubborn, and she simply doesn't want to be examined by a stranger," the professor explained with a hopeless expression.

"There's got to be a reason behind your wife's refusal, though," I went on.

"Oh, I am positive she is hiding something from me, if that's what you are implying, Edward," he replied sourly.

I had a pretty good idea of what she was hiding from her husband, but I couldn't tell him. He thought Vickie had a disease, but I had the feeling that her condition had rather been induced by the injection I had seen her receiving in one of her visions. But if the astrophysicist didn't know about that event, I couldn't bring it to his attention.

"So," Alain said after a while, "will you try to persuade my wife to go see your uncle?"

The man looked desperate, and I could see in his thoughts that he perceived me as some kind of angel crossing his path to save his wife's life.

"I can't promise you that Vickie will listen to me, Alain. I don't have that much influence over people, you know," I responded. "Besides, she is too insightful for her own good. Nobody can fool her."

"Regardless, won't you at least try?" the astronomer asked again.

The conversation had taken a very dramatic turn. I had to lighten it up a little.

"I have always been intrigued by the research astrophysicists do, Professor. I know that you, for instance, are working on an article you want to publish about highredshift quasars, but I have only a slight idea of what those are," I trailed off.

"You want me to give you a lecture about quasars?" Alain Letourneux questioned me.

I could see that he was still distracted, despite my attempt to get him out of his dark meditations. Obviously, now was not a good time to discuss about supermassive black holes with him.

"Not really. Not if you don't want to, or don't have time to," I replied with a sigh.

"Well, Edward, it's nice to know that you're not taking my astronomy class only to boost your average and that the subject is truly appealing to you. Come back another day with your friend, Isabella, and I will tell you more about my research, okay?"

I nodded, my hand already on the door handle. I had come to Professor Letourneux's office in the first place to ask him where to find Vickie, and finally I was leaving it with the promise that I would talk her into being checked by Carlisle. If that was not kismet, I wondered what was.

"Actually, the reason I came to your office was to ask you where I could find Vickie, since we don't have any class with her today."

"You wanted to discuss this with her, then? Even before I asked for that favor?" he asked, suddenly looking less distressed.

"Bella wants me and Carlisle to help Vickie," I admitted in a whisper. "So I would have done it anyway."

"Then you will find my wife in the cafeteria at this time of the day. She's very thin, as you may have noticed, but she eats all right. That, at least, has not changed."

The astronomer was right, and I found Vickie all by herself in a remote area of the cafeteria, eating a large slice of pizza. She didn't stop to greet me when I sat in front of her. And yet, she was aware I was watching her across the table, because she said, her eyes looking down deliberately to avoid disturbing me with her flashing visions, "My husband sent you to me, didn't he?"

"What makes you think that, Vickie?"

"Because ever since he learned that your uncle is working on the campus, he's been pushing me to get tested by him, and I feel like a damn lab rat!" she snapped.

Jeez, if she was already aggravated, what could I say to smooth things over?

"Actually, Bella wants you to be checked. But it's also true that your husband asked me to make you reconsider your decision. Honestly, I just can't fathom why you are not agreeing to his request."

"Are you sure about that?" she cut me off.

Was she asking me that in order to verify what, in fact, I knew? Okay, then, I wasn't going to lie to her. It was impossible, anyway.

"Vickie, what difference does it make whether you have a disease or you have been poisoned?" I questioned, beginning to lose my patience because of her attitude.

"Do I really have to explain that to you, Edward? My husband thinks I have a disease, but the truth is that I was injected with some lethal drug. I have been victim of a criminal act, for God's sake!" she stated, furious.

I couldn't understand her reaction. Didn't she want her husband to know that someone was responsible for her condition?

"I am at a loss, here, Vickie," I replied, barely opening my mouth. "Why would you hide from your husband that you have been poisoned by a man inside a car?"

"Because it would be too much for him to take, on top of everything else."

Without warning, Vickie touched one of my hands that I had distractedly left on the table. I had let my guard down without even being conscious of it, and now it was too late to make a retrieving move. Vickie would be offended if I pulled my hand back. Why the heck did I care? But the strangest thing happened when her fingers made contact with my bare skin. Unexpectedly, the cafeteria background disappeared of my sight, and I was in the back of a car, facing a man that was clearly up to no good. I understood right away that I was now reliving Vickie's ordeal through her thoughts.

The man was interrogating her about a murder contract she was supposed to have received, but apparently she had not, and he was angry at her. Vickie was upset because the guy in the limousine with her had wasted her evening, and now she wanted to get back at him, not terrified at all by the gun he was pointing towards her. She basically told him to go to hell, and then the man shot her in the knee.

The next second, I was back in the cafeteria, quickly withdrawing my hands from Vickie's reach.

"What was that?" I asked, trying to look at a spot behind the human girl while regaining my composure.

She just kept staring at the place where my hands had been, and I realized that I had removed them way too fast.

"What?" She said almost at the same time. And then she continued "I'm sorry, Edward, I wasn't listening to you anymore. I was remembering the encounter with that evil man while my husband was in Hawaii."

"Vickie," I answered, "you touched me and suddenly I was in your mind, reliving the whole thing with you. You got shot in the leg!"

"You mean you were in my head just a few seconds ago?" she asked.

She looked very confused. She hadn't noticed when I had retrieved my hands from the table.

"Yes," I responded, "I think that if you touch me again, I will be able to access more of your memories."

That was a reckless comment to make. But was it possible that Vickie's disorder kept her from recognizing our markers?

"Why would you want to do that? Didn't you feel the pain I felt from my wound?"

"No. It's more like I was watching a movie," I explained.

"I prefer not, nevertheless. Those are painful memories. At the time, I thought I was going to die and never see my children again," she tried to justify herself.

I couldn't push my classmate further. Besides, maybe I had just been lucky so far. It could be if she touched me again, she would be more observant and remark that I was stone hard and ice cold.

"Okay, Vickie, I get your point," I replied gently. "But can you at least tell me what happened after you got shot? And how did you justify your wounded leg to your husband?"

"When he came back from his trip, I told him that I had been hiking and that my injury was the result of a bad fall. It wasn't as severe as it looked anyway. And as for what I recall from that fateful evening, I had been kidnapped because Bruno Dupuis, the man who shot me, thought I was a hit woman. He wanted me to kill someone. When I refused, he told me I wouldn't live long enough to alert the police. That's when he injected me with some kind of poison. I was supposed to die within a couple of hours, but I got rescued by a friend who gave me an antidote. Well, I don't know about that. I didn't die right then and there, like I was told I would, but I am dying nonetheless."

"But why didn't you tell your husband about that kidnapping, Vickie?" I asked. "It doesn't make any sense."

"Because, as I said before, I didn't want to upset him more than he already was," she sighed deeply.

It was apparent that she was thinking about something very unsettling at that moment. Then again, what could be more disturbing than her being victim of a kidnapping, gunshot and poisoned, I definitely couldn't envision.

"Are you insinuating that there was more to your ordeal?" I kept asking, even if what she had in mind had probably nothing to do with her condition.

She resumed looking down to avoid my stare, and explained without showing any emotion "I am a hacker, Edward. I mean, not anymore, but I used to be one. So, late during that spring of 2003, I helped an acquaintance crack the code to enter in a federal building. I didn't know at the time, but the guy wanted access to set a bomb inside the place. Needless to say that we had to leave the country after the man got arrested. Many people were killed in the explosion of that building…" She began sobbing and hid her face from me.

I was not exactly shocked by her confession, but I was not as comfortable as I had been five minutes ago. The girl was a total mess, and I didn't know what to tell to make her stop crying. But then, I remembered I was here in part because her husband was having a very hard time himself, and he had made me promise I would try to be helpful.

"Vickie, you are bearing too much on your shoulders and you're overwhelmed. But at least, if you agree to be tested by Carlisle, he may find a cure to your illness," I told her after a few minutes of watching her lose her composure, something that I had thought impossible for her. She had appeared so self confident and carefree over the past days.

"Why do you want to help me?" she asked while wiping her tears with her napkin. "I just confessed to you that I was a criminal."

But she hadn't killed those people intentionally. And, moreover, she hadn't killed hundreds of bastards like I had. I wished I could confess my sins to her too, so she would feel less guilty for what she had done. But instead, I just replied: "Your husband is not ready to see you leave the earth, Vickie. And he told me that you are not making it easy for him, quite the opposite, acting as if you were already gone, somehow."

"Alain, and Ian and Joel, for that matter, still have plenty of time to enjoy my company, Edward. Ten years, if I need to remind you," she interrupted me with all the arrogance she was capable of at the moment.

"Don't pretend you don't know what I mean, Miss Villeneuve. You won't be able to remain a wife and a mother for very long. It will be over in less than two years if you do nothing about it. So you're better to hold on to your relationship with Professor Letourneux while you still can, instead of treating him like a stranger," I almost growled at her.

"Yah, you've got that right! I was obviously treating him like a stranger in the arboretum the other day," Vickie spat at me sarcastically, before continuing "All I have been doing for the past four years is to smooth things out for my family, Edward. And I can become even less lovable than I am now. This way, they won't regret me a tiny bit when I am gone."

"Who are you trying to delude this time, Vickie?" I asked harshly. "Your husband and kids will never stop loving you, and that is why you need to think about them. Unless, of course, **you** don't love your husband anymore."

"You may think it's not possible, Edward, after all, you are too young to know what true love means, but I do love Alain more today than I did twenty years ago. But it will be easier for him to accept my death if he's not attached to me anymore, don't you get it?"

"Well, the way I see it, your husband may die before you after all. He is so sad, right now, he may die from depression. But if you don't grasp that he needs you, you are the one who will end up with regrets. That being said, let's make a deal, shall we? If Carlisle can't find a cure, I won't interfere in your life anymore, and I will let you ruin it as you see fit. But if there is the slightest hope that he can help you, I don't want to hear ever again that you are distancing yourself from your family, am I making myself clear?"

I had spoken so fast that I wasn't sure she got everything I said.

"Jeez, Edward, you sound like my dad when I was a teenager. Are you sure you're only a freshman here?"

I couldn't help but smile. The observant Vickie Villeneuve was back on track.

"Finish up your pizza, Vickie. You're coming with me."

"Where are we going, if I may ask?" She looked hesitant.

"To Carlisle's office," I answered, flipping open my cell phone and putting it to my ear. I heard Bella's voice almost instantly. "Change of plans, love. Meet me in front of Carlisle's lab as soon as possible."

I stood up and made my way out of the cafeteria, Vickie following me a few steps behind.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: the utterly amazing Stephenie Meyer owns the characters from the Twilight saga featured in this fiction. I do own the plot, and I really like to spend time with the Cullen family. However, I also like it a lot when people actually read my stuff and comment on it. That's why I am more motivated with the writing of my other story and why I haven't updated this one in a long time. But fear no more, I locked myself in my imaginary world for the past 2 days and wrote 20 pages of manuscript in my notebook. Here they are. I hope you'll enjoy. **

Chapter 12

Knowing

**BPOV**

To be honest, I hadn't anticipated Edward's call. He wanted me to meet him in front of Carlisle's office. That meant he had convinced Vickie to get checked by his father. I should have been happy and relieved, because it would allow him to do more elaborate tests on her and maybe discover that her condition was curable after all.

But I had a bad feeling about the outcome of Vickie's visit to Carlisle. In fact, I had been sensing that something dreadful was about to happen ever since Alice told Edward she kept having visions of the whole Cullen coven going to the Volturi. The discussion over Skype had ended abruptly, and I spent the entire hunting weekend stressed out, replaying the last minutes of the conversation with Alice in my head.

"_Whatever you saw, Alice, you know as well as I do that it's not sealed in concrete. It can change,"_ Edward had tried to reassure his sister.

"_Edward, you'd better do something about it for the sake of your daughter!"_ Alice's last words had frightened and incensed me at the same time. Mostly, I was angry that Alice was accusing Edward of initiating a conflict with the rulers of our world. Why was she holding him responsible for what she had seen in her visions? If she had been able to give us information on what exactly we were doing in Volterra, I'd have a better understanding of her panic and why she was targeting her brother in particular. But no, she had only implied that our little Renesmee's safety depended on her father's actions. It was a good thing I didn't need to sleep: after Alice's outburst, I would probably have had nightmares if I was still human.

During our hunting trip, Edward acted as if nothing had happened, even though Rosalie spent the whole time pushing him to the edge of his control with her insinuating and aggressive comments.

"_I can't believe it's come to this so fast. I think you set a new record, Edward,"_ she had said bitterly a few hours into the trip.

Of course Edward, hearing her thoughts as she was pronouncing those words, knew precisely what she meant, and he deemed it unworthy of a response. I, on the other hand, was at a loss, so I had intruded in their argument. _"Set a new record in regard to what?" _I asked.

Rosalie growled at me before answering, _"Bella, are you really that clueless about our past, or are you acting stupid only to aggravate me?"_

It felt like the friendship I'd been trying to build up with her for the last three years was evaporating by the second. _"I only know what Edward told me, Rose. And he's not one to dwell on the past, as I'm sure you're well aware," _I had replied, trying not to look affected by her unkindness. I didn't deserve any of it.

Then Edward said, his lips barely moving, _"Rose, if you want to continue to enjoy spending a lot of time with our daughter, you have to stop verbally assaulting my wife right now." _He grabbed my arm to force me away from her, and when we were far enough so she couldn't hear us, he explained, _"Bella, Rosalie is furious because she thinks Vickie knows too much about us and that she will force us to move again to another place."_

"_But you know it's not the case, don't you?" _I asked, starting to have doubts.

"_Well, obviously Vickie doesn't think that we represent a danger to her."_

His response suggested he thought she knew about us but she wouldn't admit it.

"_Edward! How can you say that? Vickie is totally oblivious to vampires," _I blurted.

Edward sighed and pondered over how to respond. Maybe he'd been hiding some facts. _"It's just that our classmate is very difficult to figure out, Bella, even after all the secrets she has revealed to us. I' m wondering whether she could be playing us to…" _he trailed off.

"_If Vickie were aware of our true nature, Edward, she wouldn't hang around us. You must know that much,"_ I stated. He smiled widely, barely restraining himself from laughing.

"_Isabella Marie Swan Cullen, you can't be serious. That's the lamest argument YOU could come up with to convince me!"_

It took me less than a second to understand why he was making fun of me. Gosh, Rosalie was right, I was an idiot.

"_It's not the same thing, Edward," _I said, indignantly._ "By the time I learned what you were, I had already fallen deeply in love with you. So of course I wasn't running anywhere. But Vickie doesn't have that excuse to seek our company." _

"_She is not purposely hanging around us, Bella. She even told us to leave her alone and get a life yesterday, remember?"_ Edward interrupted.

"_As if I could forget about her that easily after what we've learned_._"_

"_You see, sweetheart? In the end, it's history repeating itself with this particular girl. Only this time, it's not just me that the human girl captivates, and it's got nothing to do with love."_

After this little discussion in the woods, we dropped the subject and decided to ignore Rosalie's remarks for the remainder of the hunting trip. But she'd been relentless. _"You'd better try to find out what it is Alice saw in her visions. If something bad happens because you don't take Alice's advice seriously, I will disappear with Emmett and none of you will ever see us again." _Sure. Like she was capable of leaving Renesmee. _"Stay away from the human girl, for God's sake!"_

By the end, I stopped listening to her comments. They didn't make sense, anyway. Why would she associate our interactions with a mortal woman and Alice's visions? Was it because, in her mind, the reason we'd go to Italy had to do with Vickie discovering the truth and exposing us? Then again, Alice herself seemed to think it was all related somehow.

I made my way to Carlisle's office in no time, and I decided not to wait for Edward and Vickie to go inside. It would surely help me calm down if I had a little chat with my father-in-law.

"Bella!" he smiled at me when I entered his workplace. It was the first time I visited him here. The place consisted of two rooms; I knew that the door behind Carlisle's desk was connecting his office to his lab. Inside, he had all the equipment a medical researcher could dream of. "Edward just called to inform me that he was on his way here with your classmate," he said.

He seemed to be expecting me to fill him in on the details about Vickie. But why she had agreed to be tested eluded me.

"Yes, Carlisle, he called me as well less than a minute ago, but he didn't elaborate over the phone, so I don't know how he managed to have Vickie reconsider the matter," I replied.

"I must admit I'm a bit surprised," Carlisle went on, "I was under the impression that she was angry at both of you for interfering in her private life."

"Believe me, Carlisle, she was upset alright when we caught her in the middle of a passionate embrace with her husband," I answered sarcastically. "In fact, I wonder what was more annoying: being interrupted while she was making out or being told we were investigating her."

"The fact that you acted behind my back bothered me the most," I heard Vickie's voice reply coldly. I turned around and, sure enough, she was in the door frame, escorted by Edward.

"And yet, here you are, Ms. Villeneuve," Carlisle told her warmly, "which, I hope, means that you don't hold a grudge against my nephew and his girlfriend."

"Life is too short to be wasted in resentfulness, Mr. Cullen," Vickie responded with a shy smile.

_I wish Rosalie could hear you, _I thought. Then she addressed me, "It was rude of me to interrupt your conversation with your foster father, Bella. Please, accept my apology." Jeez, that was unexpected.

"I didn't mean to be judgmental, Vickie," I tried to explain, "and I'm really glad that you agreed to come here so we can help you."

"You should keep your expectations low, though. I just came here to prove to my husband that my situation is hopeless, a concept he doesn't seem to grasp."

I had no idea what she was talking about, so I looked at Edward, questioningly.

"Professor Letourneux asked me to convince his wife to see a doctor to get an actual diagnosis, which they haven't done, so far," Edward started to clarify for my benefit.

"Bella and Carlisle don't need to know about what I confessed to you earlier, Edward," Vickie cut him off.

She got me really curious with that last sentence. I would make sure Edward told me about every minute he spent with her when we got home.

"Let's get started, then, shall we?" Carlisle asked. He addressed her as the doctor, not as Edward's relative. "First, I'm going to draw a sample of your blood, if you don't mind."

"Be my guest," Vickie simply replied.

But the way she stared at him suggested that she already knew he was going to find something unforeseen in her blood. Hadn't Edward just told us that Vickie had never been checked by a specialist in regard to her condition? What could she be aware of, then? Carlisle looked at Edward more intensely, and I assumed he was mentally asking him if he was in control enough to handle the blood work.

"You don't have to hide anything from me, Carlisle," Vickie commented, noticing what they were doing.

"You're right, Mrs. Villeneuve, I'm sorry. I was just asking my nephew if he wanted to assist me," Carlisle managed to say.

Oh my! That was not a very good choice of words.

"Assist you?" Vickie frowned.

So did I.

"I mean observe me, Vickie. Didn't Edward tell you that he was considering following in my steps and becoming a doctor in the near future?"

"Well, Carlisle, if I recall correctly, Edward admitted shamelessly that he was a privileged dunce and that he could never be accepted in a medical school," she replied, her eyes sparkling. She was probably enjoying an inside joke.

"Aha! I like your sense of humor, Vickie," Carlisle laughed lightly.

He gestured for her to follow him in the other room. She turned and sent us a questioning look. "Aren't you coming, guys? If I am to play the part of the lab rat, why don't you play the nerdy lab technicians?"

Vickie's attitude was making me suspicious. I decided to let go of my shield to let Edward know how I felt. _"What if Vickie's blood starts to appeal to me when I see it?"_

Edward thought about it for a few seconds, and finally he told Carlisle, "You know how Bella is affected by the sight of blood, Carlisle. I think she wants to stay here instead."

Ironically, that excuse would have been accurate not so long ago. But today, it was about Vickie's security. It was better to be safe than sorry. Edward left me and joined the others in the lab. I could hear Carlisle working on Vickie's arm, preparing it in order to draw some blood from the vein he was no doubt trying to make more prominent. He could have done it in less than a second, the only thing slowing him down being the blood itself, running at a pace of its own. But he had to act like a human, so it took a moment to draw Vickie's blood. After a few minutes, I heard Edward's astonishment.

"Bella, you have to come here and take a look at Vickie's blood! It's amazing!"

So much for the lie he had told five minutes earlier.

"But Edward, you know that I faint when I see blood!" I protested.

"That's my point, Bella, it doesn't look like blood!" he replied.

He sounded excited like a little boy receiving a Nintendo DS on Christmas day. And I had to see for myself if what he said was true. I rushed into the other room as fast as I could without using my supernatural speed. It seemed to me that Carlisle was having a hard time drawing Vickie's blood. In a second, I closed the distance between me and Edward, who was standing next to his father. It's only when I stood beside them that I dared to look at our classmate's right arm. Her blood was dripping painfully slow into the little test tubes, and it was disturbing, to say the least. More disconcerting, yet, was the fact that it was thick and purple, instead of fluid and red. The vision left me speechless.

"So, Doctor Cullen, what do you think now?" Vickie asked when I couldn't articulate a single word. "Should I confirm to my husband that I am a walking freak show?"

At least, now I knew why her heart was beating so slowly.

"Vickie," Edward said, "you knew something was off with your blood, didn't you?"

"Of course I knew! I cut myself a couple of times in the past six years!"

Carlisle was about to add something, but the next second Rosalie was standing in the middle of the room, holding a crying Renesmee in her arms. She had appeared in a blur. She probably hadn't realized that Vickie was in Carlisle's lab because of our friend's singularities. And now it was too late. There was no way our acquaintance could have missed the tornado that had appeared in front of her.

"Speaking of freak show," she mumbled, watching Rosalie with some kind of disbelief all over her face. Or was it admiration?

How ironic, after all Rosalie's complaining, that she was the one responsible for blowing our cover in the end! But truth be told, at that moment I wasn't really angry at my sister-in-law. I was worried about my daughter. Why was she screaming at the top of her lungs?

Vickie quit staring at Rose, but she was now observing each of us more attentively. Carlisle must have asked Edward to finish the blood work, because the next second my husband was replacing him at Vickie's side; he expertly removed the needle from her arm like he had been doing just that for the last twenty years. Meanwhile, his father grabbed Rosalie's arm firmly to lead her in his office, leaving Renesmee with us. Yet it was useless to hide her from Vickie's sight; she was hissing so loudly, the former scientific journalist could not miss a syllable of her explanation for her presence on the campus. She didn't even speak faster and lower. Did she think she could redeem herself if she started to act human now?

"Renesmee fell down on the kitchen floor while trying to reach the cookie jar all by herself. You know, Carlisle, the one Esme keeps on the highest shelf," Rosalie trailed off.

It was not a good spot to store my daughter's food, but it was only six feet high. How badly could Renesmee have been hurt?

"You want me to check her to be sure she's alright?" Carlisle asked.

"She's fine. But ever since then, she's been crying non-stop and asking for her mom and dad," my sister-in-law retorted.

"Regardless, Rose, you should have called before showing up unexpectedly in my lab. We're in the middle of something, here."

Instantly, Renesmee's cries had stopped when she saw Edward and me in the room. At the moment, she was staring inquiringly at Vickie, most likely remembering her from the playground.

"You're the lady who beat up the bad man in the playground the other night and made him shriek like a cartoon character," she stated. "Daddy, why weren't you with us? You could have helped the lady get rid of the evil man and his friends."

Suddenly, the room filled with an awkward silence. Edward was done with Vickie, who stood up and peered out the window. She turned to face us, but her expression was unfathomable. Even if she tried to make sense of my daughter's last sentence, she couldn't. From a stranger's standpoint, Edward looked too young to be called _daddy_.

"Something is not quite right here, is it?" she asked, with a broken voice.

"That depends on your definition of right, I suppose," I answered her blankly.

"Well, I'm not blind, Bella, and it's obvious to me, in plain daylight, that Renesmee is your daughter. She has your eyes…"

"That's true. She has my eyes," I repeated, not knowing what else to say.

"…and she has Edward's features. That's weird," she whispered, obviously to herself.

"Edward is my daddy," Nessie said proudly.

My dear daughter! Nobody had explained to her that she was not to tell anyone Edward was her father. Nobody had considered the eventuality of her running into strangers while with him. The same applied to me, for that matter.

"And yet, you two are too young to be the parents of an eight year old kid," Vickie continued.

I could tell her that Renesmee had a disorder too.

"And then there is this young blond goddess who appeared in the room out of thin air…"

"Bella," Edward spoke at last, "Vickie's brain is on the verge of snapping. She is trying too hard to rationalize what she just witnessed."

"What do you want me to do?" I asked, worried about Vickie's mental health.

"Try to make her focus on just one thing while I go get Carlisle," and he rushed in the other room.

Rosalie must have left in a hurry because Carlisle was now on the phone with Esme. He asked her to be prepared in case Vickie revealed that she had encountered supernatural creatures. The young woman turned back to stare outside, seemingly lost in another universe.

"Look at me, Vickie," I tried to regain her attention, but she ignored me.

"What's wrong with the lady, Momma?" my daughter asked, seeing how strangely Vickie was behaving.

"I don't know, sweetie," I replied gently. "Can you do me a favor? Can you put your hand on her face and show her what you saw the night she rescued us at the playground?"

Renesmee nodded and walked to Vickie. She pulled her shirt to get noticed. At last Vickie seemed to return to reality and bent down to address the little girl. "Is there something you want to tell me, little lady?" she asked softly.

Maybe Edward overestimated the seriousness of her breakdown. Nessie didn't respond. Instead she put her two hands on Vickie's cheeks, and waited patiently. Vickie closed her eyes, and pretty soon a smile crossed her flawless face. After a few minutes, she let go of Renesmee's hands and grabbed her in her arms. "That is quite a gift you have there, young lady," she said. "You can recount your life without opening your mouth, and even show people things that are in your imagination. I must admit that I'm impressed…"

She was about to ask me something, but then Edward came back in the lab with Carlisle. He looked furious.

"Christ, Bella! Why did you ask Renesmee to show Vickie her gift? Are you out of your mind?"

Why was Edward mad at me? I had just tried to help him, like he'd asked me to do.

"Vickie wouldn't look or even listen to me. So I suggested Renesmee show her what she had seen while we were hiding behind the trees in the playground."

"But Renesmee didn't just show her what happened," Edward replied, "she showed her what would have happened if I had been there with you!"

Oh! He was angry because now there was truly no way to conceal what we were. Wait a minute! There was a way.

"Well, it's obvious to me that Vickie has reached a point of no return as it is, Edward. So I don't think she minds some homemade horror movies," I answered cynically.

"At least now I know I'm not crazy," Vickie said, all of her composure back, "and I understand better why you told me you would have been alright even if I hadn't been there that fateful night."

"Vickie," I sighed deeply, "what Renesmee showed you is just the product of her imagination, you said it yourself."

But she wasn't listening to my explanation of what she had seen in my daughter's head.

"You asked me if I was some kind of ninja, Bella, do you remember?"

"Yes, Vickie, I remember. But you eluded my question, that night."

"I'm a normal human, apart from being very insightful and skilled when it comes to martial arts. And of course apart from reversing in age. You and your family, on the other hand, are anything but normal."

"That's because we are not human," Edward cut her off.

"Edward! I thought you didn't want her to know the truth!" I exclaimed, confused.

"Well, it would definitely make our life easier if Vickie was not involved in it. But you wanted us to help her, and it comes with consequences we will have to face, I'm afraid. Besides, you pointed out yourself that she is too deep in it now," he replied.

But I didn't mean it like that, and I didn't want my family to get into a crisis because of my mistakes. Nevertheless, if we were to make Vickie aware of our true nature, we needed to consult Carlisle first.

"Carlisle, what should we do?" I turned to face him.

"Edward said it all, Bella. The only advice I can give you, at this point, is to be prepared to go to Italy, because we might have set things in motion today. But don't beat yourself up for what is happening. Rosalie was the one who started it all."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Vickie questioned when she saw me addressing Carlisle too fast and too low for her to grasp the sense of our words.

"Vickie, you said earlier that you were relieved you weren't crazy. Why did you think you were losing your mind in the first place?" Edward asked her.

"Well, I saw you moving in a blur when you thought no one was watching you. When I touched you in the cafeteria, I noticed that you were abnormally cold. And I also noticed that you can be as still as a statue, not to mention your supernatural gifts and the fact that you are the parents of a child who is eight while you are not even in your twenties. Last but not least, according to your daughter, had I not been in the playground, your girlfriend alone or with your help would have torn the three bastards into pieces and drained their blood to drink it. That's either the setting of a gory movie or a nightmare, Edward. And yet, I'm wide awake. Can I ask you a question?"

We all looked at her, waiting. The fact I had been the most curious about when I had learned Edward was a vampire was his real age. If she knew about us, she was probably as curious as I had been. But Vickie would definitely always surprise me.

"Are you going to kill me?"

Edward smiled crookedly and raised one eyebrow.

"Jesus, Vickie! Why would any of us do that? We offered to help you find a cure for your condition, for heaven's sake! Carlisle is a doctor, not a murderer!"

"But usually your kind, you know, vampires, they feed on people's blood…"

She really knew what we were.

"Don't look so stunned, Bella! Like I said, I'm not blind. You guys have all the markers. You are chalky pale, awfully beautiful, unbreakable. Rosalie, the nanny, jumped out of Carlisle's office window five minutes ago. I was peeking outside when she did. Believe me, even Jackie Chan wouldn't dare jumping from the tenth floor. I haven't seen you eating regular food, and you stay inside when it's sunny…"

"No we don't. We just stay away from the public eye," I interrupted, too happy to see she had at least one fact wrong about us.

"Nonetheless, you are mostly creatures of the night," Vickie went on.

"Wrong again, Ms. Villeneuve," Carlisle began, "although I can only speak for our coven. We live quite a normal life. Otherwise, how would you explain that Edward and Bella are attending their classes during daytime? And my presence here in the middle of the afternoon is proof enough that we are not affected by the natural light of the day."

"And you don't drink human blood?" she asked.

"Not if we can help it," Edward reassured her, "besides, even if we did, you wouldn't be a target."

"Why not?"

"Do you remember asking me why I was investigating you?" Edward questioned.

"Of course I do."

"Well, the main reason is because I was curious about the pictures in your mind. But the other reason, Vickie, is because your blood is odorless. We will analyze it and hopefully will find out if there's a way to make it healthy again. But the fact remains that human blood is normally what we crave, what is the most appealing and satisfying to us," Edward explained.

I suddenly realized that is was very imprudent to talk to Vickie like this. It could put her in great danger. I removed my shield and looked more intensely at Edward, _"What if Alice's visions were the results of us revealing too much about our kind to Vickie?"_ He blinked to let me know he had heard me. He concluded, "Vickie, we have a contemporary literature class starting in five minutes. I'm afraid we have to leave you with our secret out for now, but I'm sure you know better than to alert the campus about it, don't you?"

"You are doing it again," she replied with a smile.

"What?"

"Patronizing me. Look, Edward, I don't want to seem arrogant or judgmental, but I think your secret is much safer in my hands than it is in your nanny's. Which is quite ironic, by the way."

She had her hand on the doorknob but seemed to hesitate. She finally turned and asked me, "Bella, how was it to almost die while bringing a new life into this world?" It must have been a rhetorical question to show off her knowledge of our kind in general and of me in particular, for she was gone before I could recover from the question. Edward put his arm around my waist and whispered in my ear, "So I was right: she has indeed been playing us all along."

"I only hope she'll stop before it's too late," I responded, still in shock.

"You know what? I don't care anymore. What's the worst that can happen to her anyway?" He locked his golden eyes onto mine.

I knew exactly what he was thinking at that moment; I had come to the same conclusion. "Maybe she is sticking around because she wants something from us."

I stayed still for a while, pondering Vickie's bizarre attitude. A new fear started to rise in my mind. "Vickie isn't like other humans. What if our venom killed her instead of saving her?"

"All the more reason not to bring this idea to her attention," he said matter of factly.

I really hoped Vickie was not as informed as she seemed to be. But she was a scientific journalist. Who knew all the mystifying stuff she may have unveiled during her years of research in order to write her articles? My anxiety must have been all over my face because I heard Edward say, "Carlisle, can you keep Renesmee with you and take her home when you're done here? Bella is not feeling well right now and I have to do something about it."

Oh my! What did he have in mind? We left Carlisle's office and I frowned at him. "Aren't we supposed to be headed to Mr. Sterling's class?"

"I don't think you can handle three hours of our teacher's analysis of Cormac McCarthy's book at the moment, love."

"Ditching a course so early in the semester? I'm disappointed by your conduct, Mr. Cullen," I teased my husband.

"How about spending the rest of the day at the Hanover Inn?" He glanced at me and smiled impishly.

"Seriously?" I giggled, excited at the prospect.

"I wouldn't joke about that, Bella. And it will be so much more comfortable than the science library cubicles."

"I think I love you more every second, Edward Anthony Masen Cullen," I replied, putting my arms around his neck and kissing him fervently.

Not long after, in one of the biggest rooms in the hotel, Edward made me forget everything except why I was so lucky to have him as my lover.

**Yes, sex is definitely the right way to forget all the shit that is going to hit the fan soon...**

**This version have been edited with the help of my devoted betas LadyMacKenzie and Just4ALE.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: the characters from the Twilight saga featured in this story don't belong to me. They are owned by the marvelous Stephenie Meyer.**

Chapter 13

Confidences after Twilight

**BPOV**

I lost track of time while I was in Edward's arms. I had seen the daylight fading through the curtains adorning the wide windows that occupied two walls of the hotel room. It was past seven p.m., according to the clock on the bedside table.

I had promised Renesmee I would take her to the playground tonight because the last time we were there, we had been forced to leave the place in a hurry. I finally untangled myself from Edward's hold and started grabbing my clothes that were strewn all over the floor. Fortunately, my husband had been careful not to tear them off me, knowing I wasn't carrying a spare outfit with me.

"We don't have to get back home tonight, love," Edward said in a low voice that clearly reflected his longing for me.

"Actually, we do," I replied. "I don't have any extra clothes for tomorrow, and Renesmee is waiting for me to take her to the playground as we speak. So please, don't make me feel lustful again or guilty to leave this luxurious hotel suite."

I saw a shadow cross Edward's features.

"You intend to return to the same playground where you almost got attacked by those three bastards?" he asked, not hiding his discontent.

"Well, it's not like I can't defend myself and my daughter," I replied, a little offended.

Jeez! Sometimes he could be so overprotective!

"I'm sure you can, Bella, and that's my concern," he interrupted me. "If Vickie hadn't been there last week, those scumbags would probably be dead and rotting under the roots of that tree you were hiding behind. But I don't want you to become a murderer and I don't think Vickie will make a ritual of joining you every night in the park."

So Edward was just anxious because he knew I would have to kill the filthy men if I had another unfortunate encounter with them. I had to reassure him.

"Probably not, Edward, but honestly, I don't think those guys will dare to come back after what she did to their leader. Anyway, if it makes you so nervous, come with us. You're more than welcome," I replied.

"I can't, love. If we're going back to the mansion, I have to help Carlisle with the analysis of Vickie's blood," he said.

I had almost forgotten that Carlisle had Vickie's blood in his possession now. Of course he'd spend the rest of the evening in his lab doing the tests.

"Maybe I can ask Rosalie to accompany us, then," I suggested.

Although, at the moment, I didn't assume Rosalie would want to spend any time with me. We were at war since Friday night.

When we arrived at the manor, I could only smell Esme and Renesmee in the house. They were in the kitchen.

"Where are the others, Esme?" I asked, sitting on one of the stools as Edward did the same.

"Rosalie is hiding from view at her place, and Emmett and Carlisle are trying to convince her not to take the next flight to Alaska right away," Esme responded quietly.

"A flight to Alaska? Crap! Do you think it's necessary at this point? Do we have to leave this place?" I asked, alarmed despite Esme's calm demeanor.

"I don't think so, Bella. Carlisle called me back, late this afternoon, to tell me our secret was safe with Vickie, and I don't have any reason to believe otherwise."

"Our secret is safe with Vickie more so than Carlisle knows, in fact," Edward added.

"What do you mean?" Esme questioned.

"Vickie herself is sort of in hiding, here in Hanover, with her family," he started to explain.

"What the heck are you talking about?" I cut him off, taken aback.

"I had a conversation with her during lunch time. It turns out that Mrs. Villeneuve is not only a former scientific journalist and math teacher; she's also a former hacker. The reason she stopped writing for the magazine _Science&Vous_ is because she left the province of Quebec hastily after being involved in the explosion of a federal building. It's also why she never went to a doctor regarding her condition. She was afraid her name would enter in the system and attract attention to her again."

"I'm not following you. How was Vickie implicated in the explosion?"

"She cracked the code for her accomplice, making it possible for him to enter the building. The problem was, she didn't know he wanted access to set a bomb," Edward continued.

"Oh dear, that's terrible!" Esme said. "Are you sure we can trust this girl?"

"Yes, Mom, I'm sure. Vickie can't go to the authorities because she's considered a criminal in her country. Besides, what would she tell the police? We haven't killed anyone in recent years, and she doesn't know what we're concealing in our basement here. And since she used some forged papers herself to enroll at Dartmouth, she's not clean either," he concluded.

Renesmee was listening to us patiently, but eventually she grabbed my arm, "Momma, I want to go outside before my bedtime," she said with her most velvety voice.

She reminded me so much of her father.

"You're right, sweetie. I promised I would take you, so let's go," I said.

We left the room as Esme asked her son more details about Vickie and what he thought of Alice's visions.

I couldn't help but having a feeling of déjà vu when I parked the Volvo near the playground. Obviously, at this time of the day, way past twilight, we would be all by ourselves. Again. But as soon as we got closer to the structure Renesmee liked the most, I saw Vickie coming our way with her sons. I told my daughter to go play and went to sit on a bench. Vickie sent her boys to Renesmee and approached me. She didn't join me on the bench, however. She just stood there, like she was waiting for my permission. It was awkward and I had to say something.

"Are you playing bodyguard for my benefit or something, Vickie? You know by now that I don't need one," I commented sarcastically.

She lit up a cigarette and after a while she finally sat by my side.

"I came to apologize for the bomb I dropped on you this afternoon, Bella," she whispered, keeping her eyes down.

But I knew better and I was done with her act. I wanted to figure out what she really was up to.

"Listen, if we're going to have this conversation, you can look at me in the face. I can't read your thoughts, so making eye contact doesn't affect me like it affects Edward, and I'd like to think that I'll be able to see it if you're being dishonest with me," I said, my dazzling gaze on her.

"Fair enough. I guess I deserve your wariness," Vickie replied, holding my gaze.

She was as dazzling as one of us. I had no advantage on her, no leverage. Damn it!

"Funny that you'd be here again tonight," I said. "Edward was concerned about me taking Renesmee here after that encounter with the three sociopaths last week. You're aware that I would have been forced to kill them, right?"

"Yes, and I completely empathize with you. Heck, I had to restrain myself from slaughtering them, and I don't even have the excuse of craving human blood!" she answered angrily.

"Well, despite what Renesmee showed you, I would probably have broken their necks because they truly deserved to die, but I wouldn't have fed on them, even _if _I did crave human blood," I said.

"Why not if it's what is best for you?" Vickie asked.

She seemed genuinely curious and interested. This was the opportunity I'd been waiting for.

"Vickie," I began, "evidently you know a lot of facts about our kind, but you're also a little off about some of them. So tell me, what exactly do you know about vampires?"

"Isn't it enough that I acknowledge your existence?" she responded.

No, it wasn't enough; it just confirmed that she had probably done some research on our species at some point in her journalistic career.

"No, it's not. At first we thought you were entirely oblivious to what we were. Then the last words you said to me earlier gave away the fact that you know things that even our own kind has a hard time comprehending. For instance, you know that I almost died while giving birth to my daughter. Would you please be kind enough to enlighten me on that?" I demanded softly, so she wouldn't sense I was pressuring her.

"Is Edward really just your boyfriend, Bella?"

Why did she keep sidetracking me with more questions?

"Okay, Vickie, enough with that!" I snapped. "I'm going to tell you my real story, but afterwards I want you to stop eluding my questions, or else I'm leaving the playground right now!"

I was about to stand up, but she put a hand on my arm to stop me. She wasn't scared one bit about sitting next to a supernatural creature. Maybe I could do something to amend that, but then I remembered the reason she was in all probability here for: _venom_. I inhaled deeply to calm myself.

"Do we have a deal?"

"All right, Bella, I'll try to behave," she replied sneeringly.

Gosh, she wasn't helping. Lucky for her that I wasn't an ordinary newborn vampire; I would have lost it by now with that bold attitude of hers. She was looking straight ahead, watching her sons enjoying themselves with my daughter. Renesmee was moving more carefully than usual for the benefit of her new friends. I returned my attention to my classmate.

"To answer your question, no Edward isn't just my boyfriend. We have a child together, for Christ's sake! He's my husband. And before you ask, I want to specify that he didn't marry me because he had knocked me up. I was already his wife when I got pregnant…"

"But was he already a vampire when he married you?" she interrupted.

Why was she asking me that? I pondered for a few seconds about what she knew. She had an undeniable knowledge of our kind, but she didn't know much about us as individuals. It only made sense that she wanted to learn more.

"Yes, he was already a vampire. He was turned in 1918. And I was perfectly aware of what he was when we got married. But I thought you knew that already. After all, what you presumed about my pregnancy leads me to believe that you know Renesmee isn't completely human.

"Yes, but I wasn't one hundred percent sure about that. I was just guessing, actually. What I know for sure is that _you_ were still human yourself at the time, otherwise you couldn't have gotten pregnant," she trailed off, an expression of disbelief and disapproval evident on her face.

She was being judgmental and it confused me.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" I asked, uneasy all of a sudden. "Was it another question, or just a statement?"

"I was just wondering why you would go for it, knowing the risks," she said in a low voice.

"Go for what?" I frowned.

I wasn't following her at all. What was she talking about?

"Having sex with a vampire while still human, Bella," she went on, looking at me condescendingly.

Then I remembered that she was almost forty. She could be my mom. She was probably chastising me like she would a child who ran out in the street.

"Oh! That's what you mean!" I replied. "So you think I knew I could get pregnant when I slept with Edward the first time? You couldn't be more wrong. I wasn't aware I could have a baby with a vampire. No one knew it was possible, not even Carlisle!"

"Never mind my asking that, Bella. I didn't know either, eight years ago. I couldn't have warned you then…" she continued, sighing.

Wait a minute! She was implying that she had learned about inter-species procreation at some point over the past eight years. I would have to ask her more about it later, but for now I had to correct her.

"That's another thing," I began. "Renesmee being half-vampire, half-human… she doesn't age like everyone else. Actually, it's the opposite of your condition. She ages about three times faster than normal kids. So even if she looks eight or nine, in reality she's only three."

I thought Vickie was going to say something, but she was just waiting for me to go on.

"It will stop eventually. Renesmee growing up faster, I mean. When she reaches eighteen, she won't be aging anymore afterwards…"

"And what about when she was in your womb?" she asked at last.

"I was pregnant for only four weeks. I gave birth to her two days before my nineteenth birthday, and then, as you seem to know, I died. Well, almost. Edward managed to keep my heart beating while poisoning me with his venom. 48 hours later, I was a newborn vampire with a newborn baby girl."

"You're the only woman on earth who survived the birth of a hybrid child, you know that?" she asked, amazed.

"So I've been told," I replied, "but how can _you_ know about this stuff when even Carlisle, who's been a doctor and a vampire for over three hundred years, didn't know?"

"Because I went to South America a couple of years ago to do some research on a man who was said to have been alive for more than 150 years. A man who was still looking young after all those years, I have to specify. Of course I was skeptical at first, but when I met him and one of his relatives, it was obvious they weren't human. The man's name was Nahuel, and he was accompanied by his mother's sister, whose name was Huilen, if I recall correctly."

So now Vickie was admitting she'd traveled to the southern hemisphere to speak with the same creatures who had saved us from the Volturi two and a half years ago thanks to their testimony. Too bad I had to keep my mouth shut about our rulers. I merely remarked, "I met Nahuel and Huilen, once."

"Well, I must admit I'm surprise. Nahuel and his aunt had to hide in very remote places of the Amazonian forest to stay unnoticeable and to be able to hunt the unsuspecting inhabitants of the area who inadvertently cross their paths," she replied.

"How did you find them, then?" I inquired.

Actually, I was more curious to know how she had survived the encounter.

"An elderly man in a small village told me about a little woman who had visited the place several decades back and killed some inhabitants to feed on their blood. He had recognized the same woman coming to kill again the month before my visit, and though the two rampages were sixty years apart, the woman looked exactly the same. I found the woman and her nephew in the jungle and they told me their story. Luckily for me, the woman, who turned out to be a vampire, was not hungry when I approached her. But yes, she told me her nephew was half-vampire, half-human and that he was the one who had bitten her and changed her when he was just a few minutes old, after tearing his mother's stomach apart with his teeth to make his way out."

"That's not what happened to me, though," I said. "Edward cut through my abdomen with his teeth to make an opening for Renesmee. I was still conscious when he took her from inside me. However, I would have died if he had not changed me. My ribs and spine were broken and I had lost too much blood to survive."

"Was it painful, the transformation?" Vickie questioned softly.

Did she really want to know?

"Yes. More so than you can ever imagine. But don't you dare tell Edward, or anyone else for that matter. They all think I didn't suffer because I had been given a massive dose of morphine before. Yet with all the morphine I received, in the end it did nothing to help me through the excruciating agony my body was undergoing. It paralyzed me, keeping me from screaming or moving even my little finger."

"It's really hard for me to grasp the concept of so much pain not causing death," she mused.

"And that's precisely why vampires are often regarded as not being part of the living world. But if we are indeed dead, we couldn't create new life. Renesmee is the proof Edward needed to finally believe that he was still alive, if not as a human anymore," I explained.

Vickie's attentive expression suggested that she was far from done with her questioning. It wasn't a night she was singing with her band at Murphy's, and she probably assumed I had all the time in the world. I waited a while for her to speak, but she seemed lost in her meditations.

"Vickie, don't you have to put Ian and Joel to bed soon?" I asked, trying to get a reaction from her.

She turned to stare at me again with her mesmerizing gaze. Maybe she wasn't aware of the effect it had on people. If it could astonish a vampire, what could it do to another mortal?

"Don't worry about my boys, Bella, unless it's your way of telling me that _you_ have to be somewhere else," she replied with a wry smile.

She lit up her third cigarette.

"All the things you told me about your family, are they true?" she demanded after exhaling the smoke.

"What things?" I raised an eyebrow. "Are you asking if I was really adopted by the Cullens?"

She nodded.

"That's just what people here need to believe about us, like the story you made up about your past in order to attend Dartmouth. But the truth is I'm a Cullen because I'm Edward's wife, that's it. Nothing out of the ordinary here," I responded straightforwardly.

Vickie looked confused with the answer I gave her.

"But according to the information I gathered on your kind, vampires don't live an ordinary life. They are nomadic and have to change locations all the time," she stated.

"That's because most vampires do kill people to feed themselves and, as a result, they need to hide from their prey. But we feed on animal blood, and we're used to blending in with humans."

"So the members of your family aren't actually biologically related, are they?"

"Well, Carlisle was changed more than three hundred years ago, and he is Edward's father, not his uncle. But unless a human Carlisle was able to get Esme pregnant with Emmett, then Alice, then Edward, and then was turned and decided to turn Esme and wait eighteen years to turn each of his children purposely, there is no way they can be genetically related. Besides, I told you Edward has been a vampire for only 90 years."

I hoped my convoluted explanation made sense to her.

"So how did you all get together, then? I mean, how did you become like a real family?"

"I should be offended, here, Vickie," I teased. "We _are_ a real family."

I didn't know if it was safe to reveal more about us, so I kept silent for a few seconds.

"Come on, Bella! I already know your father-in-law is the same doctor Cullen who started a foundation fifty years ago to finance projects on the campus," my classmate continued.

_I bet you know that..._

"So what? Are you planning on using this piece of information to blackmail us? What is it that you want from us? I'm not fooled, and I know you have been playing us all along, Ms. Villeneuve," I snapped, starting to feel on edge again.

"Don't get mad at me; I don't intend to expose you. Didn't Edward tell you I'm a dangerous criminal on the run?"

"Don't be sarcastic, I'm not in the mood for it right now," I warned.

Hopefully she would listen to my advice.

"Look, it's just that my husband doesn't accept that I won't be with him for the rest of his life. He's sinking into depression a little more everyday," she stated sadly.

"Yes, I can figure that much. But I told you Carlisle is going to try his best to find a cure for your condition."

"But what if his best is not enough, Bella? It would be so much easier if one of you just used your venom to change me so I wouldn't die."

At last she'd said the dreadful words. If only I had heard them wrong…

"You can't be serious! You certainly don't realize the consequences of such a request. You asked me earlier how we, the Cullens, became a family. I'm going to tell you all right so that you understand our existence is not a picnic in heaven. Carlisle himself was accidentally bitten by a vampire while he was chasing a whole coven of bloodsuckers in the London sewers. He was so devastated when he grasped what he had become that he made many attempts to kill himself, but all in vain. He spent the next 250 years alone, taking care of the sick and injured. And then he met Esme Platt when she was sixteen. She had broken her leg falling out of a tree, and was treated at the hospital where he was working at the time…"

"Wait a second! I haven't seen Esme, but are you telling me she became a vampire at sixteen?" Vickie interrupted.

"No, I just said Carlisle met Esme for the first time when she was sixteen. But he met her again ten years later, under much more dramatic circumstances. Esme lost her newborn baby and had jumped from a cliff to kill herself. Carlisle found her at the morgue, actually, because she was thought to be dead, but her heart was still beating faintly and that's why he was able to change her. He knew how because he had already changed Edward three years before, in Chicago.

Edward would have died of the Spanish influenza if Carlisle hadn't transformed him. And then ten years later, Carlisle found Rosalie Hale in a dark alley of Rochester. She had been… severely beaten and left there to die. But Carlisle thought she could become a mate for Edward the same way Esme had become his mate. However, the relationship he had imagined wasn't to be, for Edward and Rosalie never got along very well and they never would have worked as a couple," I said flattly.

_Thank God for that twist of fate..._

"You told me Rosalie was married, though," Vickie prompted.

"Yes, that's correct. Two years after she became a vampire, she found Emmett McCarty while she was out hunting. He was being attacked by a bear. She killed the beast and took Emmett back with her to Carlisle so he could change him. She didn't want him to die; she had fallen for him right on the spot, if you can believe it. They've been together ever since. As for Mary Alice Brandon and Jasper Whitlock, they weren't changed by Carlisle. They joined the Cullen coven in the fifties because they wanted to share its lifestyle. Alice is a psychic; she can see things that are going to happen. She had seen the Cullens in one of her visions and she wanted in. Jasper wasn't as enthusiastic about their vegetarian diet, but he followed her anyway because he can't live without her."

"Then from what I understand, Bella, you're the newest member of the Cullen family," Vickie remarked.

"Yes I am. I only met Edward four and a half years ago, when I was living in Forks with my dad. I was a junior in high school and he was in my biology class. It took me more than a few days to find out he was a vampire, though," I trailed off to see if Vickie was going to comment on my last sentence.

"That's because you hadn't met one before," she replied matter-of-factly.

"Regardless, when I learned for sure that he wasn't human, it was too late; I was madly and irrevocably in love with him," I concluded.

"In love to the extent of wanting to become a vampire yourself, Bella? Or are you a vampire only because you would otherwise be dead after you gave birth?" she asked.

"I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Edward, Vickie, but I didn't want to age while he stayed young forever. I think it's a legitimate reason for wanting to be changed," I responded defensively.

"Well, it's pretty selfish, somehow. What about your real family?"

"Let me finish," I cut her off. "I wanted to be changed, but Edward was totally opposed to the idea."

Jeez, how was I going to recount the whole thing without mentioning the Volturi? I decided to skim on the details. "Anyway, to make a long story short, Carlisle was going to change me after my graduation, but Edward wasn't happy with the plan. Since he couldn't convince me to remain human, he offered to change me himself if I agreed to marry him first…"

"You agreed to marry Edward so you could become a vampire? That is just sick!" Vickie blurted, scandalized.

And now I had to confess something even more shocking.

"Actually, Vickie, at first I didn't want to marry him. But I wanted to have sex with him, and he wouldn't agree, arguing that it was too dangerous, that he could hurt me unintentionally. However, I'm stubborn and I wanted my first time to be a human experience, if you know what I mean. In the end, my craving for Edward played against me because he used it as leverage to get what he wanted. He told me that he was willing to try to make love to me, but only if we were married."

"Wow! That's very romantic and old-fashioned. Your husband is quite a gentleman, Bella. You're a truly blessed woman," she said.

"Edward is very old-fashioned, indeed, but that's because of when he was born. And he's also quite a gentleman, although I must admit he almost lost it once, before the wedding. Ironically, even though I was nearly combusting with desire, I was the one who made him stop," I reminisced.

In retrospect, Edward had been very naïve to think he could be with me and not change me. Heck, he was always doing things to me that would set me on fire. How was I supposed to stay in control, to resist the temptation?

"You managed to have Edward agreeing to both your requests, in exchange of a marriage. So you had your way, in the end," Vickie asserted.

"I certainly did. And Edward was the happiest man on earth the day of our wedding. Truth be told, he's done nothing but please me ever since."

"And yet, the consequences of having sex with him while still human almost ended your life. Don't you have any regrets about it?" she asked very seriously.

The answer was so clear to me. It should have been evident to her too, or so it seemed.

"Vickie, if I had waited to be a vampire to become intimate with my husband, I wouldn't be a mother today. Are you asking me if I regret that Renesmee exists? What kind of an idiotic question is that? Christ! Edward and Carlisle wanted me to have an abortion and I refused. Rosalie, my sister-in-law, had to protect me from them. Today none of them would say I made the wrong choice, you can be sure of that. And Renesmee, well, she's worth all that I went through," I retorted.

"Well, I'm dying too, and you don't want to help me. Tell me, Bella, how fair is that?"

"Your attempt to make me feel guilty is uncalled-for, after all the times I've told you we _will _help you, although not the way you have in mind. Besides, one way or the other, it's not a decision I can make. You'll have to talk to Carlisle, and obviously you need his advice. So let's go find him. Plus, he might be done with the analysis of your blood."

"I'm sure _he_ will give me what I want," she murmured, not defeated.

I didn't reply to her last comment. She was acting like a little girl about to throw a tantrum. I offered her and her sons a ride and we all headed to the mansion. Renesmee's usual bedtime had long passed.

**Okay, that was a lot of talking, I know. But there will be less conversation and more action in the next chapter, I promise.**

**This chapter has been edited with the help of my precious betas LadyMacKenzie and Just4ALE.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: at this point, I'm sure you know I'm not Stephenie Meyer. But just in case, I want to remind you that she is the one who created the characters from the Twilight saga featured in this fiction, so they belong to her. As always, I'm having a lot of fun with them, especially since I'm writing Fog to indulge myself.**

**Also, my new beta Just4ALE is correcting the remaining chapters, meaning they will be of better quality right away, thanks to her precious help. The previous chapters are in the process of being corrected by my other beta, LadyMacKenzie, that I want to thank as well. Enjoy.**

Chapter 14

Don't cross Vickie.

It was after ten, now, and Bella and Renesmee had not returned from the playground yet. That fact was starting to make me feel anxious. So much so, actually, it was impossible for me to concentrate on what I was doing anymore. I had been helping Carlisle with the analysis of Vickie's blood for the last two hours, but it was not enough time to get to any kind of conclusion regarding the abnormality of it. We needed to work through the night to come up with some preliminary results.

I must have looked even worse than I felt; I heard Carlisle, who was in the other part of the lab monitoring the equipment required for testing blood, telling me in his head, _"Son, I can continue to work on the sample without your assistance if you need to be somewhere else."_

"I'm sorry, Carlisle," I replied, "it's just that Bella and Renesmee should be back by now. I would feel better if I checked on them at the park."

But just as I was justifying my lack of focus and my nervous stance, Bella suddenly ghosted in the room. She looked very uneasy herself.

"Please, love, don't tell me you ran into the three bastards again?" I said with concern. She was staring at Carlisle like she had bad news for him. Her seriousness was almost unbearable. And where was our daughter? "Did you put Renesmee to bed already?" I asked without giving her the time to respond to my first question.

"Don't you think it's late enough for her?" she replied, trying to put a smile on her face but not succeeding very well.

Bella's attitude was odd, somehow.

"Okay, Bella, I'll take that as a yes," I said. I needed to appear calm. "But can you at least tell me what took you so long? I was on my way to get you. You should have called!"

"I know, darling, but Renesmee was having the time of her life with Ian and Joel and I didn't want to cut it short, so I let her have her way…" my wife trailed off.

Now I was confused.

"Ian and Joel? Do you mean you had another encounter with Vickie tonight?" I questioned.

"Yes, Edward, that's exactly what I mean, and it's also the reason why I look so unsettled at the moment, as I'm sure you noticed."

Carlisle stopped his manipulations and joined us in the conversation.

"Yes, Bella, I noticed it too. Did something bad happen to your friend?"

"We had a long chat and I convinced her that she needed to talk with you, Carlisle," Bella replied. "She is waiting for you downstairs in the living room with her boys. Esme is offering her some refreshments as we speak."

What? Bella had invited Vickie Villeneuve to come over to our place? What was she thinking?

"Bella, Christ! What was so urgent? Vickie could have met Carlisle tomorrow on the campus!" I said, not hiding my dismay and discontent.

Bella decided to address Carlisle instead of answering me. My tone had been more reproachful than I intended and I had mistakenly hurt her feelings.

"Carlisle, Vickie wants to become one of us so as not to die," she explained straightforwardly. "You've got to talk her out of this!"

Carlisle remained speechless for a couple of seconds. I took the opportunity to voice my displeasure.

"What? Hell, love, what did you tell her? How did she come up with that idea?" I hissed.

"You're not helping, here, Edward. Don't you see how Bella is already feeling guilty about your classmate's request?" Carlisle pointed out, trying to comfort my wife.

"I didn't say anything to her, Edward!" Bella hissed back. "Don't you remember what we discussed after she left Carlisle's office this afternoon? I'm the last person who would suggest that she change!"

She rushed out of the lab and I could feel Carlisle's stare on me even though my back was toward him. I saw myself trembling in his mind.

"Son, I don't understand why you're so angry right now, but if you have to let your temper out, please don't do it at Bella's expense. Come downstairs with me. I may need your advice on how to reason with Vickie."

"And I may need you to restrain me from slapping Miss Villeneuve's pretty face!" I retorted as we exited the lab.

The truth is I was furious because Vickie was proving me right: she had been friendly with us because she wanted to use us. How could I have been so blind to let her play with my emotions in the first place? Was her husband part of the conspiracy as well? I wanted to beat the crap out of her. The only thing that would stop me was the fact she was here with her children - a calculated move, no doubt.

When Carlisle and I entered the lounge, Vickie was talking casually with Esme and Bella about the pros and cons of our sailing boats.

"Yeah, Esme, the Bombardier 4.6 is definitely the best if you want to take a friend with you and show off your skipper abilities, but I still prefer the Laser because it's faster," Vickie was arguing.

"I don't use the Laser anymore. I got tired of fetching the mast from the bottom of the lake. You see, every other day I would go for a ride, the force of the wind would make the boat overturn," Esme responded.

"How long have you been using this Laser, Esme? The mast shouldn't come off so easily when you capsize, even if it's removable," Vickie stated.

"Carlisle was among the first customers to buy one, in 1970, even before it was commercialized," Esme replied with her soft voice.

"Your Laser is as old as me?" Vickie asked, genuinely surprised.

"Yes, dear, we have owned this dinghy for almost forty years. Obviously we could have replaced it, but now it's a collector item."

I realized that Ian and Joel were sleeping on one of the blue velvet couches on the other side of the room, and I was thrilled with the notion that I might be able to show my wrath after all. However, as soon as Bella saw me she stood up quickly and raised her shield, _"Edward, please don't do something you'll regret afterwards."_

Her eyes were full of dread. At that instant, I must have appeared as the monster I once had been. I walked over to Vickie and bent forward so my face was inches from hers. Was I the only one here aware of the human's real intentions?

"You little snake, how dare you come here to make my family feel like they owe you something? I won't let you mess with us any longer!"

Vickie was too shocked to open her mouth and throw one of her smartass replies at me. And I was too fast for anyone else to react before I went further with my threat. I grabbed my classmate by the collar of her black turtleneck and lifted her up in the air. She was lighter than a feather. I tossed her like a ball across the room to where her kids were sleeping. I didn't use any force otherwise she would have hit the wall and been killed on impact, but I had stunned her nonetheless. She was lying unconscious on the floor, just a few feet away from her sons.

"My goodness, Edward, what have you done? And why?" Esme asked, ghosting to Vickie's side to help her. "Carlisle, I think you need to come here," she said, her voice filled with panic and fear.

Yes, my adoptive mother was probably afraid of me at that very moment. The next second, Carlisle was laying Vickie on the other couch and Bella was gazing at me with disgust and disbelief.

"What is wrong with you, Edward? Vickie came here because I asked her to. She did it at my request, for heaven's sake. I wasn't forced into doing this!" she screamed at me.

"Can't you see that our classmate is just taking advantage of your feelings to get what she wants?" I retorted, aggravated by the fact Bella was blaming me.

"No she is not! And even if she were, it's no excuse to treat her like you did. You acted as if she were a violent criminal, Jesus Christ! What if she's seriously injured? What are you going to tell her husband?" Bella questioned, outraged.

I didn't respond. I knew I had been too impulsive and Bella was right to be furious. Fortunately, after a few minutes of deafening silence, Vickie awakened with Carlisle at her side. The young woman looked at my father, disoriented, and then clung to him when she saw I was still in the room. At first, fear and confusion were all over her face, mirroring Esme's emotions. Suddenly her expression changed to a blank look, and then to downright fury.

"So much for wanting to help me, Edward Cullen! You almost killed me, you stupid vampire!" she spat out. "And then you would have had no choice but to turn me…or not, if you don't care about my husband and kids."

Her logic was sound, I had to agree. I had reacted way too drastically, and without even listening to what she had to say. It was a good thing I had an excuse not to look at her in the eyes. I couldn't. I was ashamed.

"I'm sorry, Vickie," was all I could reply.

But she was not satisfied with my lame attempt at redeeming myself. How could she be?

"Damn it, Edward! I thought you were a smart cookie, but I'm not sure about that anymore. Don't apologize to me, you moron! Apologize to Bella! **She** is the one whose feelings have been crumbled. Look at the poor girl: she's wondering what happened to her husband and who the hell is this stranger in front of her…" she trailed off, fuming.

So Vickie knew I was Bella's husband. What else had she learned while at the playground with my wife? Obviously it was not the time to ask Bella. I would be lucky if she didn't file for divorce after tonight. In fact, now was the time to face the 'afterwards' Bella had warned me about.

"Bella, love, tell me you understand why I reacted so harshly, even if it was wrong," I ventured, fast and low.

I didn't want Vickie to hear what I was saying to my wife, but Bella decided in that moment that I deserved a little humiliation.

"I suggest you shut it, Edward," she hissed. "Right now, the only thing weighing in your favor here, apart from our friend being nice enough not to burn you at the stake, is the fact that your 90 years of experience as a vampire gave you the necessary control to prevent killing her not fifteen minutes ago!" she cut me off scornfully. "So unless you have something really, really enlightening to say at this very moment, I suggest you stay out of Vickie's conversation with Carlisle."

Fair enough, although I still had to deal with my own mess.

"Bella, we need to talk as well," I tried again.

"Fine!" she snapped. "Let's go in the kitchen with Esme then." She turned to my father. "Carlisle, Vickie thinks the best solution to cure her condition would be to receive our venom so she would become immortal. Can you please explain that it's not as simple as it seems and that, moreover, it's not the only option?"

"Of course, Bella, if Vickie is willing to listen," Carlisle answered, watching our classmate.

"I will listen, Carlisle, but I made up my mind already about the whole matter," she said stubbornly.

How a girl so brilliant could be so foolish and irrational was yet another mystery. I had come to realize that Vickie Villeneuve was full of contradictions. And if Carlisle didn't convince her to give up her unrealistic plan, I would have to remind her of the fact that her blood was special and we had no way of predicting how her body would respond to our venom.

I followed Esme and Bella in the other room. My wife was still mad at me; her resentment was tangible in the space between us. Esme must have felt it as well because her expression was one of deep sadness. She was having a hard time watching her children put themselves in hot water. She had had to cope with Rosalie earlier today. And now my uncalled-for behavior was too much for her. She would have cried if she still could. Bella became aware of her distress and tried to look calm. I couldn't expect more from her at that moment.

"Okay, Edward. I think I can handle talking to you without lashing out. So what is it you wanted to tell me?"

She still had spark of anger in her eyes. I had to tread carefully.

"You told Vickie about our real family situation," I stated.

"Yes, I did. Do you intend to make a drama out of that fact too?" she asked sarcastically.

"No. I was just curious about the exchange you had with her."

Meanwhile, I could hear what Carlisle was telling Vickie. He was informing her about the Quileutes' treaty. This treaty should have been the first and only argument Carlisle needed to bring to her attention, yet I doubted Vickie would accept it as a good reason to abandon her project. Maybe she would be able to dazzle Carlisle. Better yet, she might have the ability to hypnotize him and deprive him of his will. I split my concentration between Bella in the kitchen and Carlisle in the lounge in case Vickie had a backup plan to sidetrack my father.

"It was nothing of importance, really," I heard Bella reply. "I just told Vickie about all the things you do to me when we're alone in our bedroom…"

I thought my wife had been oblivious of the fact I was not entirely focused on her, but apparently she had not. She was waiting for my reaction, a slight smile crossing her face. It was better than the fuming look she had a few minutes ago. I raised an eyebrow and smiled back at her.

"I heard that, love, but don't you think it's a bit unwise to reveal the best part of our sleepless nights if you don't want Vickie to be changed?" I teased her.

"Oh dear," Esme said, "did you seriously tell the girl how blessed we were in our sex life?"

"No, Esme. Should I go tell her now?" Bella asked innocently, almost laughing.

"Come on, ladies, calm down," I said, trying to be serious. "As enjoyable as our existence can be, we would all trade it for a mortal life if we could, am I not right?"

Esme and Bella nodded at the same time.

"But if you still want to know the main subject of our conversation, Edward, long story short, I asked Vickie how she had learned about our kind, and she explained that she had traveled all the way to South America to meet Nahuel and his aunt when she was a scientific journalist," Bella admitted.

That didn't come as a surprise, after all the facts I'd discovered about the young woman.

"It seems to me that your friend is a very adventurous and daring person," Esme commented.

"Yes she is, on top of everything else," I agreed.

"I really don't want her to be changed, Edward, but I can't help thinking about how powerful she'd be as a vampire," Bella murmured.

"It's not going to happen, love," I said firmly. It sounded like I was trying to persuade myself, not her.

"Surely Carlisle will let her know about the treaty," Esme added. "In the end we must not feel guilty if we can't give Vickie what she seeks. It's simply a request we can't fulfill…"

Esme's reassurance didn't seem to persuade Bella.

"I wished you were right, but Vickie is very resourceful. She might find another way to do it," my wife sighed.

It was at that precise moment that I clearly grasped the reason for Alice's visions of our whole coven going to the Volturi. I made an effort to remain calm while asking Bella, "Love, when you had that long discussion with Vickie at the playground, did you mention the Volturi to her?"

She stared at me as if I had insulted her, or worse.

"Crap, Edward, why would I even breathe the name of those monsters in front of her?" she retorted, her face contorting with disgust.

"The Volturi? Who are they?" I heard Vickie ask from behind me.

I turned my head and realized that the former scientific journalist was standing in the kitchen's door frame. It almost seemed like she had appeared there out of thin air. Bella wouldn't have answered my question if she had seen her in the room. Carlisle wasn't with her. Listening to his thoughts, I could see that he had returned upstairs and was looking for a specific book in the library.

"Vickie, did you send Carlisle to the library on purpose so you could eavesdrop on our conversation?" I asked.

I had seen her in action with my father at Murphy's. It was likely that she had used her dazing capacity to control him and get him out of her way for a couple of minutes. Bella was right: Vickie was no ordinary human.

"You didn't answer my question, Edward. Who are the Volturi and why would you keep me from learning about their existence?" our friend asked coldly.

_Because I want to protect you, Vickie._

"I already told you that everything in relation to our world is off limits. Understand that once and for all and deal with it. Go back to your home with Ian and Joel and wait for Carlisle's decision on what will be the best course of action regarding your condition," I replied with the same coldness in my tone.

Vickie did not speak right away. She looked intensely at the three vampires in the kitchen, and finally she said to no one in particular, "I thought you would know me better than that by now. If you don't want to answer my questions about the Volturi, I can't make you, obviously." She turned to me and continued, "Edward, you may look exactly like my brother, but you're a thousand times stronger than he was, so I can't fight you. And I can't force any of you to poison me. But if the Volturi are who I think they are, I'm willing to take my chances with them. See you all soon!"

It took Esme, Bella and me a fraction of a second too long to understand what Vickie was up to, and it was all the time she needed to open the front door and leave. I couldn't even guess her intentions because she left her sleeping sons in our living room.

"Edward, I think she's gone!" Esme exclaimed as we realized the sound of the blowing was louder. Vickie hadn't shut the door in her hurry to take off.

"You have to stop her, Edward!" Bella shouted. "If she finds the Volturi, they will kill her or make her their prisoner…"

I was out of the manor before she even finished her sentence, searching for our classmate in the darkness. But it was no easy task: I couldn't count on her scent to lead me to her, and she was wearing black from neck to toes.

"Shit!" I swore, after searching the mansion's property with no success. She couldn't have gotten very far as she'd left less than five minutes ago. Besides, she had no means of transportation; she had been given a lift to come here. Suddenly, I had an inspiration. Vickie's comments about our sailing boats had led me to think she was a skipper herself. If it was true, maybe I would find her by the lake. However, I had to hurry if I wanted to catch her. It was a breezy night and the lake was not large. If Vickie managed to reach the other side, she would be only a mile away from the main road leading back to Hanover. When I reached the pier where the two dinghies were anchored, one of them was missing, and sure enough it was the Laser. I peered across the water and I finally caught sight of the sailing boat at the very end of the lake. Yes, Vickie had indeed managed somehow to sail the distance in about four minutes. Damn it! Bella was not going to be happy; she might even be dejected. She'd be shocked that I left our classmate run off… but Italy was going to be a different matter.

I had to get back to the manor to reassure my wife. After all, we still had time. When I returned to the living room, Bella, Carlisle and Esme were sitting, motionless, as if my brief absence had turned them into statues.

"Carlisle," I said loudly to get him out of his stupor, "you have to call Professor Letourneux. I don't know if Vickie will go back to him or if she'll end up at the airport to get the next flight to Florence. Besides, he needs to come get his children."

"You mean you didn't catch Vickie? How is it possible?" Bella asked, getting more distressed by the second.

I waited to be sure Carlisle had heard me and was making the phone call before I responded. "Darling, please stop worrying about Vickie. I'm sure we have plenty of time to get to her before she even finds out where the Volturi live…"

"Edward," she interrupted, "you just told Carlisle Vickie might take the next flight to Florence. It means that you think Vickie has enough resources to learn everything that could help her in her quest to find the rulers of our kind very quickly!"

She was right but I didn't want to admit it. I wanted to see her calm again.

"I will not relax until this whole crisis is over!" she exclaimed. My poker face had failed me once more; it was as if she was reading my mind.

Carlisle was done with his phone call to Alain Letourneux. He joined us and I noticed the look of guilt on his face.

"This messy situation is entirely my fault, son. I shouldn't have left Vickie alone in the living room. But how was I supposed to know she was playing me when she asked to see my first edition of _the Origin of Species_?" Carlisle said, truly mortified.

"Oh no, Carlisle, no one is to blame for what happened," Esme tried to comfort her husband. "We wanted to help the girl, and we still do, for that matter."

"Yes," Bella confirmed, "and now we need to discuss what we're going to tell Vickie's husband. Assuming she didn't share what she discovered about us with him, that is."

"This, at least, will be easy to verify," I remarked.

"Should I wake up the boys?" Esme demanded.

"Let's wait until Professor Letourneux is here," Carlisle proposed. "He told me it would take him ten minutes."

I looked at Carlisle. "What excuse did you come up with?"

"I just said Bella had met Vickie in the park and that she invited her over for a late snack."

It was plausible enough, from a human standpoint…

"Maybe I should set the table, then," Esme suggested, remembering the tea she had prepared for Vickie earlier.

"Yes, Mom, but we still need to explain him why his wife is nowhere to be found," I pointed out.

"What if she simply returned home after she left and ends up missing Alain because he's here with us?" Bella asked, wanting to believe in the best case scenario.

"She would have asked for a lift back and taken her kids with her. She wouldn't have run like the house was on fire," I responded.

"Oh dear, I hope this Professor Letourneux will understand the situation and won't get mad at us!" Esme sighed when she was done setting up the props.

"We should tell him the truth," Bella whispered. She seemed to be musing out loud.

"This is out of the question, Bella," I said a little too sternly.

She glared at me. I was definitely going to spend the rest of the night fasting…again.

"But we can still admit that we think Vickie decided to go to Italy. We just have to tell him there is a hospital over there which specializes in all kind of genetic disorders," Carlisle argued.

I was about to point out that Alain Letourneux might wonder why his wife had left our place in such haste as to forget her sons, but then we heard the sound of a vehicle's tires on the gravel of the secondary road that accessed the compound. A few minutes later, a green Audi was parking in our driveway.

"That was fast," I mumbled.

The moment of truth was seconds away…

**Oh my! A cliffhanger! Not anymore...**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I want to remind you this story is not the product of Stephenie Meyer's imagination, even if I wish it was. Most of the characters featured in it, however, made their first appearance in a saga called Twilight, which was created by Mrs. Meyer. Consequently, I have no rights on them. I'm just glad my favorite author gave her fans the permission to use them in their own fiction. **

**Only two chapters left to Fog, which I spent a lot of time writing. It doesn't really matter if it didn't attract a lot of readers; the fun I had with the characters was all worth it. Enjoy while it lasts.**

Chapter 15

Rescue

**EPOV**

Not a minute had passed when we heard the astronomer knock at the front door. Carlisle went to greet him while Bella, Esme and I sat at the dinner room table and pretended we were finishing eating a snack.

"Professor Letourneux," my father said in as casual of a tone as he could manage. "It's a pleasure to meet you at last."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Doctor Cullen," Alain replied politely.

He didn't say anything else for a few seconds as he looked around as to gauge the place where Vickie had been invited for some refreshments. Carlisle looked at me questioningly, but I could only hear the confusion in the astrophysicist's mind. It seemed obvious to me that he had no idea he had driven to a house full of vampires. But maybe he was well matched with his wife and he was playing us like she had. Even his thoughts weren't helpful.

"You have a lovely home, Mrs. Cullen," the professor addressed Esme, "but I really feel I owe you an apology on behalf of my wife. Carlisle told me she accepted an invitation to come here for a late snack. She shouldn't have. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I'll bet you all want to go to bed now…"

Okay, that last sentence confirmed what we had all been hoping for: Professor Letourneux was clueless about what we were. We would have to go with Carlisle's suggestion, then.

"It was no trouble at all, Professor," Esme replied with a comforting voice. "We are used to friends coming over at any time, even late. Please, you don't have to feel like you abused of our hospitality."

"That's very kind of you to say, Mrs. Cullen…"

"Call me Esme, Professor," she corrected.

"All right, Esme, but only if you call me Alain," the astronomy teacher responded.

"Would you like some coffee, Alain?" my mother went on.

Holy crap, we would never get to the point! I was silently boiling. Meanwhile Alain took another glimpse around. I could see he was looking for his wife and kids now.

"Esme," I said at that moment, trying to put on an empathic expression, "I think our guest is tired himself and he just wants to go back home with his family."

The professor looked at me and smiled sheepishly.

"I'm afraid your nephew spoke the truth, Esme. I'm finally done with my article for the Astrophysical Journal and I was hoping to catch up some sleep…"

"Professor, there is something you need to know," Bella said nervously.

Of course she couldn't bear to keep the astronomer in the dark any longer in regard to his wife.

"Yes, Isabella?" Alain asked, showing a little apprehension.

"Stop looking all around for Vickie. She's not here anymore," Bella replied bluntly.

"Not here anymore? I don't understand," the professor went on, frowning.

I shot a look of disapproval at my wife. She had to let **me **explain the situation.

"Alain, did your wife tell you that Carlisle drew a sample of her blood this afternoon?" I questioned.

"Yes, Edward, and I'm glad for that. It's definitely the first step toward a cure…"

"Well, about that," I interrupted him, "it is true Bella invited Vickie to come over, but it was mainly to discuss the options to treat her when Carlisle is done with the blood analyzis."

Alain didn't reply. He just sat down at the table. His expression was one of great confusion. However, I couldn't read his mind right now; he must have found a way to make it blank to me.

"That doesn't explain why she left. And when did she leave? Before or after your phone call, Carlisle?"

"Alain, the truth is I asked you to come here because your wife left without your kids. While she was here, we discussed her condition and I mentioned a medical center in Italy that specializes in the treatment of all kind of genetic disorders. I took the liberty to call the center and they have a place for her. The thing is, she didn't want to wait and she left as soon as I made the arrangements with the center. She's on her way there as we speak… and she left Ian and Joel behind her."

"Shit!" I heard the astronomy teacher mutter. "So basically you just want me to take my sons home and wait for Vickie's call when she arrives at that special hospital?"

"Yes, Alain," I answered instead of letting my father continue. "That was the plan. Moreover, Carlisle intends to join Vickie in Italy and discuss her case with the specialists and call you back to inform you of any new developments…"

"How long would she stay there? I want to be with her!" Alain cut me off.

"Alain," Carlisle tried to reassure the professor, "your wife will be in good hands over there, no matter how long it takes to find a way to reverse her condition, and I will monitor every step of the treatment. She might even be cured when she comes back. But I really think it would be best if you stay here so you don't have to take a leave from your teaching position and have your kids watched over by some stranger."

"I beg to differ, Carlisle. There is nothing that could prevent me from asking for a substitute for a couple of days, or weeks, and Ian and Joel can accompany me," the astrophysicist replied, a little angrily.

As good a liar as I was, I would run out of arguments very soon.

"Alain," I sighed, "you asked me to help your wife this morning, and that's exactly what my family and I are doing right now. But you should agree to our conditions. That's all we are asking of you. We are even paying for all the expenses related to Vickie's stay at the _Centro di Trattamento delle malattie genetiche rare di Firenze_."

"It's not about the money, Christ!" Alain snapped. "I just think all this is happening too fast!"

"Professor," Bella pleaded, "accept our help and our conditions and I promise that everything will be for the better."

"Wasn't there some place in the US that could offer the same advantages? Why does it have to be in Italy?" our guest asked again, ignoring her.

_Why do you have to ask so many questions and not just leave it to us to save your wife?_

What would Alain say if he knew that we were now trying to save his wife from two different threats? I decided I had nothing to lose. I was ready to suffer the consequences of playing my last card unwisely.

"Alain, what good will it do to you to be with Vickie when you admitted to me this morning that she doesn't talk to you anymore?" I asked, watching him intensely.

"What?" Bella, Esme and Carlisle hissed all at once.

"You heard right," Alain replied. "My wife is trying to put some distance between us. A great deal of it, actually. She thinks I will stop loving her if she becomes a stranger to me."

"Why would she do that?" Bella asked, outraged.

"Try to antagonize me? Because if I hate what she's become I won't regret her when she dies. That's what she believes, Isabella."

"That's just stupid!" my wife blurted out.

"And I think it's all the more reason to get her seen by the best doctors as soon as possible," I added.

"Okay, then, Carlisle. I'll give you until Friday to come up with some encouraging news. If you don't, I'll fly to Florence to check on Vickie," Alain concluded.

Upon hearing Alain's answer, I hoped that he heard only the name of the place I had mentioned. If he was fluent in Italian, we wouldn't get away with our made up story.

"That works for me," Carlisle answered.

Gosh, we had less than four days to verify Vickie's whereabouts. It was ironic to think that we could find her easily only if she ended up in Volterra, for then it might be too late to save her. Damn it!

Esme led the astronomer to the living room so he could wake up his sons. If they were annoyed with having their sleep interrupted, they didn't complain about it. I glanced at them as they left the manor with their father: they looked a lot like Vickie, except they both had sapphire blue eyes. When the green Audi was gone, I called Emmett and he joined us in the lounge with Rosalie less than five minutes later.

"What's the news, bro?" he asked almost enthusiastically.

Apparently there wasn't enough action here to fulfill his life and the prospect of getting to do something, one way or another, was appealing to him. Rosalie, on the other hand, seemed on the verge of having a nervous breakdown.

"Relax, Rosalie, we don't need to move from Hanover," I told her forthrightly.

"Then why did you want us to come over?" she asked. "I'm not in the mood to see anyone except Emmett right now, and it's only because he's using sex to distract me."

"I think I don't need to remind you about Alice's visions, but just in case…," I started.

"So Lord help me! It's about the fucking Volturi, Edward, isn't it?" Rosalie interrupted me, her eyes bulging.

"Yes, Rosalie, but if it's any consolation, you have nothing to do with it," I tried to reassure her even if she deserved to feel guilty.

"But I'm the one who tipped Vickie off about what we are," she trailed off.

"She had her doubts already. She only needed confirmation. And regardless, she won't tell anyone what she knows. She didn't even tell her husband."

"I don't understand, Edward," Emmett said, "why are we here, then?"

"Because Vickie was here less than an hour ago and she eavesdropped on the conversation I was having with Bella and Esme and she heard me when I mentioned the Volturi."

"So what?" Emmett questioned.

Of course he didn't know about Vickie's crazy request.

"As you know, Emmett, Vickie is dying because of her age regressing. When she realized what we were, she decided she wanted to be changed to avoid death," I explained.

"I told you that mortal friend of yours would bring only trouble, and I was right!" Rosalie commented with a bitter smile.

"And what did you tell her?" Emmett continued, ignoring Rosalie.

"We wanted Carlisle to convince her it wasn't a good idea to be changed, but that's when she heard the name of the Volturi," Bella answered.

"Bella, did you tell the girl about who the Volturi are?" Rosalie hissed at my wife.

Bella looked at Rosalie with even more disdain in her face than when I had asked her the same question.

"Good God! Why do you all keep asking me that stupid question? I never opened my mouth to even form the letters of their name! Let alone tell her who they are and what they do!"

"And yet Edward is now implying that she ran to meet them as soon as she learned of their existence," Rosalie remarked.

I couldn't deny that my sister-in-law was pretty quick at connecting the dots.

"So basically, the reason for Alice's visions is because now we all need to go to Volterra to stop Vickie from being changed by Aro?" Emmett theorized.

"That's right, son," Carlisle said, "and so we need to talk to Alice to see if her visions are getting more specific."

Carlisle was already settled at the computer station and he had logged on Skype while we were talking.

"Esme, I think we have to call Alice first tonight. She is not expecting a meeting over Skype," Carlisle remarked.

But Alice must have had a vision of what had just happened here, because the next second she established the communication and we saw her face on the monitor. She looked fatalistic.

"You don't have to tell me anything, Edward," she said. "Vickie has indeed already found all the information she needs and she's waiting for her plane to depart as we speak. I already booked our tickets to Florence and I took care of yours at the same time. You just need to rush to the airport because your flight leaves in less than two hours. We'll meet tomorrow at the rental car stand. No grand theft auto this time. And I'm sorry I couldn't see it earlier. You could have stopped her right in the middle of the living room…" And she disconnected as soon as she said those last words.

**oooooooo**

**BPOV**

I couldn't believe it. This morning I was suffering a thousand deaths in a physics class, and now, less than 18 hours later, I was on a plane that was headed to Florence, jewel of Tuscany. I thought we would have a hard time convincing Emmett and Rosalie to come with us to Volterra, after all the bad words Rosalie had about Vickie. But she had no choice in the end because Emmett wanted to help us and she feared too much for him to stay behind, not to mention that Renesmee was accompanying us as well.

I loathed the Volturi, but I wasn't afraid of them anymore. However, I was worried for Vickie. She hadn't thought of the consequences of being immortal. Should she be turned, she would go back to her husband and kids only to watch them getting older and die. Was this what she wanted? I didn't think so. But I was sure Aro wouldn't allow her to return home anyway. If she became a vampire, she wouldn't go anywhere, and we would have to make up another story to tell Professor Letourneux. For all we knew, Aro would decide to kill her on the spot even though her blood wasn't calling him, just to get rid of the annoying young woman. And surely he would take her hand to access her memory; in doing so, he would learn that she had been in contact with us. He could even make it an excuse to come after us again. The possibilities regarding Vickie's fate were endless.

I was lost in my thoughts, Renesmee sleeping by my side, when I heard Edward whispering in my ear, "Too bad Alice can't see the outcome of Vickie's visit to the Volturi. I really hope they won't hold us responsible for her knowing about their existence."

Yes, that was exactly my concern.

"Edward, we've been living in peace for the last two and a half years, and I don't want it to change. Do you really think Aro could take back the promise he made to Carlisle when he left last time? I mean, the Volturi are the ones who need to regain our trust now, not the other way around," I replied fast and low, although except for my family all the passengers on the red eye flight were deep asleep.

"Aro will always be resentful for the fact that we refused to join his coven, Bella. He even wanted to see us killed by Victoria's army of newborn vampires because he'd rather have us dead than not part of his entourage. And remember how hard he tried to find a motive to destroy us when the trial didn't go his way. Honestly, I think that right now the only thing that can stop him is the thought of betraying the so called friendship that used to exist between Carlisle and him."

"You said it all, Edward. The friendship between the Volturi and me is no more," Carlisle said from the seat behind us. "Therefore, I'm going to Volterra only to prevent the killing or turning of Vickie."

"Yes, Carlisle, that's truly admirable of you to run directly to our enemies to save a stupid girl who prefers to act before asking questions. I just hope you already have an excuse for her husband when we come back with her corpse, **if** we come back," Rosalie hissed, irate.

"Come on, Rosy," Emmett told her softly, "we don't know how the situation is going to unfold, but we know at least one fact: since you're staying with Nessie in Florence and going shopping with her, you won't risk your life like the rest of us."

Emmett should have known better than to imply Rosalie was a deserter; his comment aggravated his wife instead of calming her.

"Insinuate one more time that you may die in the next hours or that I'm a coward, and I will handcuff you to the bedposts in our hotel room so you can't join into the fun of a good fight against Felix and Demetri, Emmett McCarthy Cullen!"

Esme had to intervene or else Rosalie's fury was going to attract the flight attendant's attention.

"Rosalie, dear, no one thinks you're a coward. But if you don't want to be separated from Emmett, maybe it would be best if **I **stayed with Renesmee."

I felt bad to leave my daughter with someone else while I was meeting the Volturi but I had no choice; Rosalie's or Esme's presence were not necessary, whereas mine was crucial in case we needed to use my shield. Besides, Alice's visions were so unspecific that when she had said she kept seeing the whole coven going to the Volturi, it wasn't clear if she had seen us all in their fortress or just in the plane en route to Italy. And I definitely didn't want Renesmee anywhere in Volterra, even though it would have pleased Aro to see how old she looked now.

"I hate to admit it, Esme, but it's true that I would feel better if I could be by Emmett's side during the confrontation with the Volturi," Rosalie said, more composed.

"Maybe we should wait to see if Alice had more explicit visions," I suggested.

"And maybe we should let you and Edward deal with Aro all by yourselves, Bella," Rosalie snapped again. "After all, you're the ones responsible for this whole mess!"

It was really a mean comment, but at that instant, having put the lives of everyone in my family in danger to help Vickie, I felt I deserved every piece of crap Rosalie was throwing at me. And what if Edward shared Rosalie's opinion and he was angry at me as well?

I took a deep breath just to give me a few more seconds before replying, "All right, Rosalie, you made your point loud and clear. And since Edward tried to help Vickie only because I asked him to, he shouldn't involve himself any further either. So I think the best solution is for me to go to Volterra **alone**."

"I will certainly not allow that, love," Edward said softly. "Especially considering you have everything wrong when you say that I helped Vickie only to please you. May I remind you that **I **was the one who started the investigations leading us to uncover Vickie's disorder?"

"Edward, you did it out of curiosity. I don't want this to make you feel like you owe Vickie anything," I argued.

"Wrong again, Bella. It's true that I wanted to know what was special about Vickie's blood, but I would have let it go after she told us not to waste our time on her last Friday. However, it's her husband who convinced me to do something in order to save her…"

"How ironic!" Rosalie almost laughed.

"Shut up, Rose!" Edward growled.

"Stop it, Rosy!" Emmett boomed, not caring if he woke up the other passengers, "Aside from Esme and our niece, it's going to be all of us, or none of us, end of discussion. And I'd rather we choose the first option, sweet baby, because if we were to leave Vickie into the Volturi's hands, we would have to come up with a shit load of lies for the professor when we return. Hell, the guy is a space scientist! How long do you think it will take him to find out that the Center for the Treatment of Rare Genetic Disorders of Florence doesn't exist?"

"Emmett's got a point," Carlisle added. "We are here because we made a promise to Alain Letourneux. And it doesn't matter if in the end we have to tell him that the doctors at the center couldn't find a cure for his wife, so long as we can bring her back to him alive."

No one could argue with Carlisle, so we all kept silent for the rest of the flight. Because of the time zones we had crossed, it was almost two in the afternoon when we passed through customs and made our way to the rental car stand to meet Alice and Jasper. I spotted my sister-in-law while we were still a fair distance away from her and I could hear what she was telling the clerk behind the counter. Although I didn't understand a single word, it was clear she was complaining.

"Come Lei può dirmi che avete soltanto delle Peugeot e Citroen di 4 portiere mentre io avevo specificamente 3 macchine sportive?" she asked angrily.

"Mi dispiace, Signorina, non potevamo conformarci alle sue esigenze con un termine di tempo cosi breve," the clerk answered like he was trying to justify himself.

"Chi è il vostro capo?"

When she saw us coming towards her, she decided to forget about whatever it was that was bothering her and she crashed into me.

"Bella, you silly girl! Won't you miss me if Aro wants me in exchange for your classmate?"

"Is this a joke, Alice?" I said while hugging her affectionately.

"Only if you think it's funny," she replied with a slight smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Did you see anything more in your last visions?" I asked.

If she saw only me going to meet our rulers, I would make it happen.

"As a matter of fact I did, Bella," she replied.

"So that settles it," Edward murmured like he was talking to himself.

"What, Edward?" Esme questioned, seeing his reaction.

"Alice's last vision is taking place in the Volturi's citadel, Mom. We are all in it except for you and Renesmee."

"And what about Vickie?" I demanded.

Jasper, who had been waiting silently near the rental car stand, answered my question. "She's been in Volterra for the last two hours and she is still alive… for now."

Gosh, judging from Jasper's tone it didn't sound good.

"The girl seemed to know exactly where to go once she entered the city. She intercepted one of the Volturi's guards and asked him to be led to his masters," Alice went on.

"How can you tell with so much clarity now, Alice?"

"I don't know. It's a mystery to me, especially since I don't know your friend at all. Does she really look like Audrey Hepburn?"

"Yes she does," I confirmed, "only she's even prettier."

Before we met Vickie, I didn't even know who Audrey Hepburn was. When Edward had told me of the resemblance between our classmate and her, I had been forced to admit my ignorance. Then my husband had Googled her for me and I had learned she was an actress from another era and she'd be over eighty if she were still alive. No wonder I didn't know the famous Hollywood star; she died when I was in kindergarten.

"I don't understand, Bella. If you didn't clue the girl about the Volturi, how come she found them so quickly?" Jasper asked.

"Look, Jasper," Edward said, "Vickie managed to find Nahuel and Huilen in the Amazonian forest years before you and Alice did, plus she's a hacker. So I don't think anybody can hide from her if she decides otherwise, not even Bella."

"How strange, considering she doesn't have any supernatural powers."

"Actually, I'm not sure about that. She's able to manipulate people's minds somehow. She knew all along what we were but she acted like she didn't until she was sure we were not dangerous. And during all that time we didn't realize she was playing a part. Of course it didn't help that her mind doesn't work like anyone else either," Edward trailed off.

Since we couldn't get the Lamborghinis Alice had requested, we ended up renting a minivan and made only a quick stop to the _Grand Hotel Mediterraneo_ to drop off Esme and Renesmee. Soon after, we were on our way to Volterra. The last time I was here I had focused on only one thing: stopping Edward from making the biggest mistake of his existence. As a result, the memories I had of my previous trip three and a half years ago were just a blur, so it felt like I was seeing the breathtaking countryside for the first time.

Emmett was driving – Rosalie would never drive a vehicle that didn't look like a racing car – but it didn't stop him from discussing with Carlisle, Jasper and Edward about the best way to rescue Vickie. He was all for a fight, whereas Jasper thought it would be better to wait and see what the Volturi wanted to do with the former scientific journalist. What would they do when they learned that she was in contact with us? I was more anxious by the minute. More confused, too.

"But Alice, if Vickie has been with Aro and his brothers for more than two hours, surely he knows all about her by now," I pointed out.

"Aro hasn't been any more successful than Edward at accessing Vickie's mind, Bella," Alice replied flatly.

"What is he doing with her, then?" I looked at Edward. "Aren't we close enough for you to read his thoughts?"

But my husband seemed reluctant to answer my question.

"Edward, for heaven's sake, what is wrong?"

"Bella," he sighed, "Vickie's first words to Aro were to ask him to change her. He doesn't understand why she came to him and since he can't get her memories to find the answers to his questions, he is considering whether or not he should torture her to make her talk."

"You mean she hasn't told him about us?"

"Apparently not."

"Why doesn't he just kill her?" Rosalie asked.

She sounded like she wished for Vickie to be executed.

"He will probably make your wish come true, Rose, after he obtains her confession," Edward answered plainly.

"I was just kidding and you know it!" Rosalie snarled.

"If you're so certain this mess is going to end up badly, babe, you should start thinking of a good story to tell the professor right now," Emmett said to his wife.

"I just hope Aro won't find a motive to kill us all. We can't even go back, thanks to that fucking tracker of his!" Rosalie stated bitterly.

I couldn't blame her for her reaction; I was a ball of nerves myself. But I tried to rationalize to comfort her. "Calm down, Rose. Just because Vickie is a mortal who is acquainted with vampires doesn't make us guilty of any wrong doing. Christ, the girl has known about our kind for many years and she never told anyone!"

"Bella is right, Rose," Carlisle went on. "We're not meeting Aro to defend ourselves; we just want him to spare Vickie's life. I'm sure he will think twice before doing anything he might regret, especially when we tell him about Vickie's husband and kids and what the consequences of her death would mean."

We were entering the city at that moment and the plan was to pretend we were on a family trip and had decided to stop by Volterra so we could pay a short visit to Carlisle's 'friends'. We parked the minivan and walked our way to the secluded citadel entrance that was supposed to be protected by some of the Volturi's guards, according to Edward. It was yet another sunny day so we were all covered from head to toe with hoodies, boots, gloves and sunglasses. God, I hoped people wouldn't notice how misfit we looked. Not that there were a lot of tourists in this area of the medieval city, just a few of them passing by. Strangely enough, no one would walk directly in front of the door where only one guard was standing, in the shadow of the vault. Maybe they were afraid of him because he was wearing a dark cloak.

As we were closing the distance that separated us from the massive door under the vault, all the Cullens stopped abruptly, and I did the same even though I didn't know why they had come to a halt.

"Edward, I think I'm going to be sick," Alice said with a weak voice.

"Me too," Rosalie added.

That was odd…

"There is something wrong here," Carlisle whispered.

"Step back," Edward ordered.

I didn't move but Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie went back a few steps.

"Jasper, are you feeling all right where you stand?" Edward asked.

"I felt better as soon as I stepped two feet back," Jasper answered.

"That's what I thought," Edward replied.

We all went back to join the others. I was at a loss.

"Edward, please tell me what's going on over there," I demanded.

"I think I found Fred," he answered cryptically.

Everyone stared at him expectantly.

"I don't get it, bro," Emmett said. "Who the hell is Fred?"

"Fred is a vampire who was created by Victoria to be part of her army of newborns, Emmett. However, he was smarter than the rest of them and he ran off before the fight on that fateful day."

"How do you know about this stuff and where is he hiding?" Rosalie asked, frowning.

"Bree knew there was a mind reader among us when she surrendered during the fight. So while she was answering Jane's questions innocently, she was telling another story in her head. Just before she was killed she mentioned a friend of her named Fred who had escaped and who couldn't be found for he couldn't be seen. And I think I know why. Fred is not hiding, Rose; he's right in front of us, protecting the door that accesses the fortress. You see, he has the power to repel people by making them feel sick. So much so that they can't look directly at him anymore and it's like he's not there for them. He becomes 'invisible'," Edward explained.

"I can see him all right," I replied, "and I didn't feel sick either."

"Of course you didn't, love. His gift is what I'd call illusionary repulsion and it's just mental suggestion. Can you describe him to us?"

"Well, he's tall and I think he has blond hair but it's hard to tell since it's covered with a hood. He's about 20 years old and he's very handsome," I said.

I hadn't come across an ugly vampire yet. Edward smiled as if he had heard my musing.

"Can you do us a favor and go ask him if he can let go of his power so we can talk to him?" my husband asked.

"He's at the Volturi's service, Edward. Why would he listen to me?"

"Tell him we were Bree's friends," he said, like these few words would work magic with the guard.

I sighed and resumed my walk towards the vampire employed by the Volturi. He watched me progressing in his direction and I could see that he was surprised. I wondered if he was surprised because I was one of his kind or because I wasn't repelled like the others. "Hi Fred," I told him once I was at arms reach.

"Who are you? And how do you know my name?" the guard asked, flabbergasted.

"I'm Bella Cullen and I know you because my family tried to save a friend of yours called Bree the day we were attacked by the newborn vampires."

"So you're a member of that coven our creator wanted us to destroy?" Fred questioned.

"Yes I am. In fact, I'm the girl who served as bait back then," I specified.

"But you're one of us now. And how come you aren't affected by my gift?"

Fred was curious now. I hoped it was a good thing.

"Because I have a gift of my own. I'm a shield. I'm not affected by mental suggestion. Look, Fred, as you can see, I didn't come alone and my husband Edward would like to have a word with you but he can't be near you without feeling sick," I trailed off.

"Are those people over there the rest of your family?" Fred asked.

I nodded.

"Go tell them that they won't feel sick if they come closer to me."

"How can I trust you?"

"First, my power is not lethal so none of you is in danger around me. Besides I'm all by myself here and there are seven of you that I can count. And finally, you said you tried to help Bree. For that I'm grateful and I wouldn't harm you even if I were ordered to by the Volturi," he concluded.

I returned to report Fred's words to my family. I was a little angry at Edward for not telling us about Fred right after the newborn vampires episode.

"Edward, Fred told me that if you can stand the nauseous feeling for a few seconds it will fade when you are closer to him. But I'm curious now, how did you find out so quickly the reason why you were feeling sick?"

"Bree mentioned that Fred couldn't be seen and I knew it was impossible that the entrance door of the citadel wasn't protected at all. So when I realized the tourists were making a detour not to pass by the place where we started feeling weird, I just figured out it was a power that one of the guard possessed and I connected the dots," he replied while we all closed the distance between us and the guard without stopping this time. "Bree also requested that we be kind to Fred if we met some day."

"Well, that day has arrived," Jasper went on, "but it might be tricky to be nice to a vampire who is at the Volturi's service."

"I don't agree, Jasper," Carlisle interrupted, "on the contrary, if the guard knows that we are harmless in our intentions, he might agree to help us rescue Vickie."

"Let's just start by checking if he's aware of the situation," Jasper replied.

When we were in the shadow of the vault, just a few feet away from Fred, Alice confirmed that she didn't feel the nausea anymore and so did the others.

"I'd rather die than be plagued with that sort of gift," she muttered pointing at the guard that she could see now. "The poor guy will never find a mate."

Unfortunately, chances were Fred heard Alice as well as the rest of us did. But he didn't address her anyway; he stared intentionally at Carlisle.

"So, Bella told me you are the coven we were supposed to destroy three years ago? I assumed Bree had been killed during the fight, but I wasn't sure…"

"Bree wasn't killed during the fight, Fred," Edward cut him off. "She was killed afterwards, when four Volturi's emissaries came to verify the outcome of the attack we were forced to defend ourselves against. We tried to negotiate with them, arguing that young Bree was just a victim of the circumstances, but they wouldn't listen and they executed her on the spot. However, I'm a mind reader and I heard Bree's last thoughts. They were for you, Fred."

"She had a message for me?" Fred asked, his face brightening somewhat.

"She hoped the best for you, and she told me, through her thoughts, that if we were to meet you, to be nice to you. But I doubt she had in mind that you'd become one of the Volturi's guards."

Fred smile disappeared and was replaced by an expression of despair.

"It was not my will to enter at Aro's service, Edward. When I ran off to avoid the fight Riley had trained us for, I thought that my power would make me inconspicuous. Only I didn't know at the time that vampires had their own rules and rulers. I started to travel around the world like I would have done if I had not been changed, and at some point, last year, I met two of our kind who lured me here as soon as they realized what I could do with my gift. Maybe you know them: Felix and Demetri."

When I heard the names, I began to feel uneasy. It reminded me that we were on a mission at this very moment, and time was likely running out. But all the same, I wanted Fred to learn the awful truth. "As a matter of fact we know them very well, Fred. Felix is the one who was instructed to kill Bree," I admitted straightforwardly.

"The bastard! If it weren't for Jane, I would kill him!" Fred hissed.

"I take it that Jane tortured you until you agreed to serve her masters?" Edward asked, although he could see it directly in his thoughts.

"Yes, obviously. I wouldn't spend one more minute here if I could get away. But I can't because Jane is watching me and, besides, Demetri would track me down wherever I would go. So basically I'm doomed."

"Would you agree to help us anyway, in memory of Bree?" I demanded, worrying that soon it might be too late for Vickie to be rescued.

"Sure, Bella. I would do anything for the people who were merciful toward Bree. She didn't deserve to die; she was just caught by the wrong persons at a bad moment of her life."

"If it's any consolation, she was glad to learn that I had killed Victoria, your creator, and that Riley was dead too. It was enough of a closure for her," Edward stated.

"So what can I do for you now? Why are you here?" Fred continued.

"Are you aware of the fact that the Volturi are holding a human woman called Vickie as their prisoner as we speak?" Jasper joined in the conversation.

"That would be the girl who literally crashed into me around noon. She must be crazy or something because she asked me to lead her to my masters and those were her words, not mine. I never refer to them as my masters. I try to avoid them the most I can anyway…"

"Oh God, Edward!" Alice cut him off with a shout, "Aro just asked Jane to use her power on Vickie to make her confess why she's here. We need to hurry!"

"Maybe she'll be immune to Jane, Alice," Edward tried to reassure her.

"I wouldn't bet on it. I think she crashed into Fred because she couldn't see him and she was running at the door."

"Follow me then, if you think the prisoner's life is in jeopardy. And forgive me if I have to play the part of the mean guard from now on," Fred warned us.

The next second he was using a whistle to produce a sound that even we had a hard time to hear. The massive door opened slowly and we saw more guards standing on the other side. Those ones were not dressed to go outside on a bright sunny day. And it took me less than a second to recognize my nemeses, namely Felix and Demetri. They didn't say anything; they just gestured for us to follow them.

**Conversation between Alice and the clerk at the rental car stand:**

"**How dare you tell me you only have 4doors Peugeot and Citroen when I specifically asked for 3 sport cars?"**

"**Sorry, Miss, we couldn't comply on a so short notice."**

"**Who do you report to?"**

And of course, I want to thank my betas LadyMacKenzie and Just4ALE for their precious help.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: this is the end of the journey, dear readers, and also the last time I have to remind you that I'm not Stephenie Meyer, I only used to look like one of her characters when I was nineteen myself (yep, the secret is out now). Okay, let's return to Volterra and see if there is hope for Vickie to be rescued, for the sake of her family, even if by now we all want to strangle her. Good reading.**

Chapter 16

Confrontation

**BPOV**

Felix and Demetri walked ahead of us in silence for a while, and eventually they came to a halt at the end of a long passageway. As soon as we were inside the fortress, I expanded my shield to protect all the members of my family. I should have done it earlier to spare them the sick feeling they got from standing too close to Fred, however I had been too focused on Vickie's fate to even consider that option at the time. But now all the Cullens were under my protection and Fred was not an inconvenience anymore, no matter how near he was. He was walking very close to us, even though I hadn't heard any words exchange between him and the two other guards. I couldn't tell if he followed us to witness what was to come or if it was standard procedure to escort the visitors that far inside the citadel.

Then Demetri turned to address him, "Go back to your watch, Fred. We don't need your assistance anymore and besides, you wouldn't want to disturb Aro now, would you?"

"As you wish, Demetri," Fred replied, bowing his head in submission and turning in the opposite direction.

The way Demetri ordered him was revolting, but I knew better than to make a comment. Felix looked intensely at our coven, as if he was trying to draw his own conclusions as to the reason why we were in Volterra.

"You should ask me instead of assuming that much, Felix," Edward said after many seconds passed in silence.

I wondered what he had heard in the guard's mind.

"You're right Edward, but I will allow Master Aro the honor of the inquisition. I just hope for your own good that your presence here has nothing to do with the insolent human woman who almost forced herself in the citadel earlier today," Felix replied arrogantly.

That was all it took to put Emmett in combat mode.

"Oh yeah? And what if it was the case, you dirty snake?" he growled.

"Don't provoke Felix, son," Carlisle intervened quickly. "Can't you see that's all he wants? Don't play his game."

"Felix, remember what Aro told us when Jane announced him she had seen the Cullens talking to Fred outside," Demetri went on, gazing intentionally at Felix as if he had said more than he was supposed to. "Besides, arguing with them will only make us waste time and I have missed enough of the interrogation as it is."

And with that said, he opened the massive door and again gestured for us to enter in the room. We were in a different part of the fortress than the first time I had been here; therefore I couldn't say the place looked familiar. This area of the castle looked more medieval, for lack of a better word. The chamber we were in now was spacious, although the ceiling was not more than eight feet high. There wasn't any furniture in it, except for an armchair right in the center of the room. Sitting on the chair was none other than Vickie Villeneuve, the classmate we had come to rescue at the risk of angering the Volturi. She looked very tired but she didn't seem injured. Then again, if Jane had already tortured her it wouldn't be so obvious afterwards.

Vickie was surrounded by Aro, Caius, Marcus and all their followers, but my attention went immediately to Jane because she had been invited solely for the purpose of tormenting our classmate. It was my understanding that she was normally in charge of watching after Fred from afar and reporting his behavior to her masters. Apparently the interrogation had not progressed far, for Jane appeared very impatient at the moment. But when she saw us, her expression became downright furious. I knew she couldn't hurt us, yet the look she shot me made me even more nervous. I stepped closer to Edward and searched for his hand while staring impassively at Jane so as to not give away my feelings of anxiety and dread. I still wanted to believe that Vickie was here because she didn't know better, not to get us in trouble. And that's precisely why I feared for her despite her annoying and unpleasant attitude of late.

My husband whispered in my ear, "Jane is considering the possibility of not waiting for Aro's order and making the mysterious girl suffer just to see our reaction… which obviously would clue everyone in the room about a possible link between her and our coven."

"_I put Vickie under my shield when we entered in the room, Edward,"_ I told my husband in my head as Aro approached us.

I had pulled myself out of the shield for Edward to read my mind and I quickly got back in. Learning the different ways to use my protection was something I had come to master over the last two years.

"Carlisle! What a coincidence that you decided to pay us a visit with your family just as we have a very special prisoner under our roof…" he said.

I noticed he had not qualified his relation with Carlisle nor had he called him a friend. He probably didn't want to be reminded that his friendship with Carlisle was something he had yet to regain, if it was even possible.

"Make no mistake, Aro," Caius stated then, not giving my father-in-law the chance to greet his host. "Carlisle is not here by coincidence or his lovely mate would be with him."

Aro's smile didn't disappear as I expected. Instead, it became wider as he gazed more specifically in my direction.

"Isabella, dear, you look even more ravishing than the last time we met… but I don't see your daughter. You know how much it would have pleased me to see her again, don't you?"

"Yes, Aro," I responded, a little more composed now that I realized that we were not too late to save Vickie. "But I don't think this place is suitable for an eight year old girl."

"Then maybe Edward could do me the favor of showing me what she looks like now?" he asked.

But none of us were fooled. We knew that if Edward gave Aro the opportunity to scan his memory, he would learn about our connection with Vickie as well. On the other hand, it would look strange if we were to ask Aro to set Vickie free out of the blue. Still, Edward didn't like the way this conversation was going, so he replied, "Why don't you deal with your prisoner first, Aro? We can catch up on our respective lives afterwards."

I wasn't totally sure that Edward was just being sarcastic. My apprehension came back with a vengeance. Meanwhile, Vickie was staring at the floor and was almost as still as a vampire. How long had she been motionless like this? Aro turned to glimpse at her before he continued, "Oh yes, the prisoner! I almost forgot about her, Edward. Thank you for reminding me, although honestly I'd rather not have to deal with this annoying mortal at all…"

I wondered if Aro was acting a little foolish on purpose. It was more than likely. I also considered the possibility of saving Vickie without the Volturi knowing we were the ones responsible for her presence in their fortress. Of course for my plan to work, I needed Edward's cooperation. So I exited my shield once again to communicate with him unnoticeably.

"_Edward, what if we were able to set Vickie free without having to reveal we already know her? If Vickie and our family can keep their mouths shut, I think it might work."_

I was back under my protection in less than a second. I felt Edward squeeze my hand to let me know he had heard me. He hissed very low to the rest of our family, "Don't talk to the Volturi unless I blink."

Rosalie furrowed her brows. "What's with you, Edward? Why are we here if you want us to shut up?"

"Trust me on that one, okay?" he replied with clenched teeth.

It went without saying that if one of the Cullens was to admit that we were in Volterra to prevent Aro and his brothers from killing or turning Vickie, they would understand that we were acquainted with her.

"Well, Aro, not that it's any of my business, but why do you keep a human as your prisoner to begin with?" Edward went on innocently. "If the girl is so annoying, why do you keep her alive?"

What Edward had just said was horrendous but it was part of the plan. In addition, I was sure he was playing the cruel vampire to come back at Vickie for the mess she had created by coming here instead of listening to his advice. Vickie couldn't know much about the Volturi and what our dispositions were toward them. Edward was visibly trying to scare her by implying he was on the same page as Aro with regard to her fate. Would she be afraid or would she realize he was just tricking the creepy vampire into telling him his intentions?

"I don't see how this young woman can be annoying, Edward," Carlisle remarked despite my husband's request not to interfere. "I haven't heard her make a sound and she actually looks more like a statue than like a human."

He wanted to play a part in this little charade, apparently.

"Well, Carlisle, that's the whole point," Aro responded. "She wanted to see me and she did say something when she was introduced here a while ago. But then she wouldn't elaborate and she's been silent and statue-like for two hours now."

"What did she tell you, Aro?" Carlisle asked, trying to look intrigued.

"She just told me that she wanted to become one of us. And the thing is I can't access her memory when I take her hand. I only see pictures of stars and far away galaxies…" Aro trailed off.

What? Vickie was able to control her mind so as to show Aro only what she wanted him to see? This was totally surreal, for it implied she knew she had to be on her guard with the ruler of our world. But how could she be aware of his supernatural powers?

"Stars and galaxies? Edward repeated, looking skeptical. "Is this a joke, Aro? Because I can read the girl's mind just fine and I can tell you that she is sick and apparently she wants to be changed because she doesn't want to die. But my opinion is that your captive is also severely deranged if she came here instead of fetching help in a mental institute…"

"Nonsense!" Caius exclaimed from the far end of the room where he was standing with Alec, Renata, Heidi and... Gianna, the girl from the reception desk who was human last time I saw her. He was seething while I, on the other hand, was almost joyful. The act Edward was putting was becoming more compelling by the seconds. His inspiration to pretend he had no problem reading Vickie's mind was brilliant, to say the least. It was a way to spare our classmate the torture that was intended for her if she didn't talk willingly, and it was also a way to prevent Jane from using her skill and finding out that Vickie was protected by my shield as well.

I noticed that Jane was fuming; in all probability she was realizing Aro wouldn't need her help if Edward was able to enlighten him by his own means.

"Jane, my dear," Aro addressed the devilish vampire, "it seems I won't need your assistance after all. Why don't you return to your sentinel duties for the time being?"

Jane exited the chamber in a blur, and I couldn't help but wonder why she was so obedient when she could have tried to hurt the human girl and find and excuse for her wicked behavior afterwards. Were there some tragic consequences waiting for her if she didn't comply Aro's orders? Maybe her master had decided to regain our trust by showing some kind of mercy toward his prisoner and therefore he wouldn't tolerate Jane crossing his authority. He returned his attention to my husband. "So, Edward, what else can you read in the girl's mind? You said she's sick. Would that be the reason why she has no scent whatsoever?"

"How would I know that, Aro? I can hear only what she's thinking at the moment and she is purposely blocking me by showing some disgusting all-you-can-eat human food buffet."

It would be a good thing if Edward didn't have to disclose Vickie's real condition. If only she could comprehend what he was trying to accomplish and help him a little. As if she had read my thoughts, the former math teacher opened her mouth at that precise moment, "I have leukemia and I have only six months left to live, Aro."

"You spoke at last! How amazing!" Aro said with emphasis, like Vickie was a kid who needed to be complimented for her good grades at school. "But I still don't get why you came to me, dear. People die everyday around the world, it's the lot of _your _kind. Now, don't you cry young lady, I'm just stating a fact here. Can you be cooperative from now on and tell me your name and how you learned of our existence?"

But Vickie preferred to return to her stillness and silence. Carlisle took the opportunity to make a comment showing discontent and dismay. "Honestly I'm more than disappointed with this entire situation, Aro," he said gesturing at the captive and the other vampires lurking behind her. "I came here with my family today because we were visiting the region and I wanted to stop by and see if our friendship could be rekindled despite what happened in the past. Call me an optimist, but I still wanted to believe we can all recover from the last crisis. And yet what do I find here? A human who was not even lured into this place but rather discovered it all by herself! Jesus Aro, you have to do your part! You accused me of putting our world in danger of exposure by living in close proximity with humans, but obviously you can't keep our world a secret yourself!"

"Are you insinuating that I have something to do with the fact that this young lady found our citadel like it was advertised in the Yellow Pages, Carlisle?"

Carlisle didn't have the chance to answer because Jasper joined in the argument at that point, "I don't know who's responsible for the breach, Aro, but it's clear your special guest must have witnessed one of our kind in action and drawn her own conclusions. So my opinion is that you're not exerting a good enough surveillance as it is and you should be more cautious when it comes to choosing your watchers. They are obviously doing a lousy job. If this woman saw something compromising, she should have been dealt with on the spot. The way I see things, she might as well have alerted a lot of people about our existence and killing her won't solve the problem of our exposure."

"I will decide her fate after I know all the facts, young man," Aro replied tersely.

"I can answer the questions you asked the prisoner, Aro," Edward pointed out then. "She is talking to me right now, actually."

"Is she now? Why would she talk to you but not to me, Edward?"

"I don't know. Maybe because I'm better looking than you?" my husband replied cynically.

It was not very prudent to address Aro like this but I just squeezed Edward's hand harder. He went on, "She's telling me her name is Vickie and she's a scientific journalist. Maybe she knows about vampires simply because she did some research? She doesn't want to specify, but you must be aware of all the things we can find on the internet, aren't you, Aro?"

"Don't be arrogant and condescending with me, Edward," Aro hissed. His patience was wearing thin.

"I'm just trying to help," Edward continued anyway. "But perhaps I should stop if it's only to end up with you draining her no matter what. We didn't pay you a visit to watch a horror movie after all. Carlisle, I think we should leave now…"

Edward was very convincing. So much so that Vickie freaked out at last.

"I didn't tell anyone about your existence, guys," she blurted.

"And why exactly should I spare you and turn you instead, young mortal?" Aro questioned.

"Well, because I can make you relax with visions of animal shaped nebulae, perhaps? How long has it been since you last slept, Aro? You look awfully tired…" she trailed off.

Jeez, Vickie's little stay in a castle full of vampires didn't break her spirit one tiny bit. How could she be so fearless?

"So you understand that if you became one of us you'd be condemned to an endless existence in this fortress and you'd have to kill human people to feed yourself, don't you, Miss Vickie?"

"Or you could allow me to travel the world to insure that no vampire is acting in a conspicuous way that could expose your kind. The young man over there thinks that the vampires you're employing right now are not doing a good enough job," she suggested.

"You're very persuasive, Vickie, but you're also insulting Felix, Demetri, Jane and Alec with your insinuations," Aro replied coldly.

Maybe I had been overconfident in Vickie so far, or I had underestimated Aro's manipulative skills; one way or the other, I was unprepared for what happened next. He had set a trap with his last words and Vickie fell right into it, all because she couldn't accept being wrongfully accused: she was too proud. And Aro had come to realize that much about her.

"My insinuations? I didn't insinuate anything. Jasper Hale did," she cut him off.

Crap. Two words. That's all it took to blow our cover, and that's what Vickie had just given him.

"Did you just call this young blond man by his full name, by any chance?" he questioned with a slight smile.

Vickie turned mute once more. Aro addressed his brother, "Marcus, dear, how come you didn't tell me that Vickie knows the Cullens?"

"Do I have to remind you that Edward's mate is a shield, Aro? She's covering all of her family with her protection right now and I can't see a damn thing. In fact, I think the prisoner is under the shield as well because I can't see the link from her to them either."

"That's an interesting turn of events," Aro mused out loud. "Carlisle, what do you have to say that could prevent me from just killing your young friend? How could you lecture me about the growing dangers of exposure while you, on the other hand, are fraternizing with yet another human?"

"Dude, for starters Vickie has a husband and two kids waiting for her back in Hanover," Emmett replied instead of letting Carlisle answer.

"I highly doubt that, young fellow. Look at her: she's barely twenty years old."

"So what, Aro?" Rosalie went on, indignant over the old vampire's comment. "Elisabeth of Wittelsbach had two kids at nineteen, so I don't see why Vickie couldn't be a mom at twenty. But that's irrelevant anyway because Vickie only looks twenty. In reality she's almost forty."

"And why am I supposed to believe you, exactly?"

"I truly have a condition, Aro. It makes me younger every passing day and it's probably why my blood doesn't smell," Vickie decided to explain at last. "And Edward is right: if you searched on the internet you'd find plenty of references about me. I really am a scientific journalist."

"Are you telling me you're regressing in age, Miss Vickie?" Aro asked.

"That's exactly what I'm telling you," she nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier? You almost got tortured because of your silence!"

"I didn't want to talk because I didn't want to involve the Cullens in my quest."

"But if the Cullens informed you of our existence they must be punished, my dear. That's the law," Aro retorted.

He looked like he was about to lose his composure.

"The Cullens don't have anything to do with me knowing of the existence of vampires at large and of your coven in particular, Aro. I'm a journalist, and searching for facts and gathering information is what I used to do for a living. And I was very good at it…" she trailed off, almost smug.

"Does your husband know that you know, Vickie?"

"Of course not!" she replied heatedly. "Look, Aro, I've had my first encounter with one of your kind almost eight years ago, and my husband is still clueless about it. He travels a lot so it's easy for me to hide things from him. And if you want to know how I heard about you, the Volturi, you have to grasp that the disappearance of hundreds of tourists in Tuscany year after year is not something that goes totally unnoticed. And by the way, my own disappearance wouldn't go unnoticed either, should you decide to turn me but keep me prisoner or to snack on me."

"I wouldn't snack on you even if you were the last human on earth, Vickie. That's how unappetizing you are to me. But I could still kill you anyway. And if I am lenient and just change you, you're going to stay here forever and there's not going to be any witness to testify of what became of you, for the Cullens can't tell anyone what goes on under my roof," Aro stated darkly.

"You can't do that!" Alice said with a panicked voice.

"Why not, young Alice? Would you prefer to stay here as well? My proposition still stands, you know."

"Bella, please, let me out of your shield so I can show Aro what will happen depending on his decision."

While I did what my sister-in-law asked and watched her go to Aro to offer him her hand, Edward whispered in my ear, "I don't know if Aro is bluffing, but if he was to keep us all here as his prisoners, Esme would return to Hanover and tell Professor Letourneux that his wife and Carlisle were kidnapped while on their way back to the airport after she was cured. Alain would alert _Interpol_ and they would come here to look after us thanks to the information provided conveniently by my mom. I don't think Aro would appreciate that."

When we dropped off Esme at the hotel, we told her that if we weren't back in Florence within hours she was to return home without us and tell the kidnapping story to the professor.

"He could also decide to kill us and Esme wouldn't know," I whispered back.

"Whether he kills us or imprisons us wouldn't change Esme's actions and _Interpol_ would still come here to search the citadel," Edward responded.

"And of course if he was to kill Vickie but set us free, he knows that we can lie so as to not reveal our true nature. He can envision that we would make up a story involving an act of violence to tell her husband, and the professor would still end up communicating with _Interpol,_" I concluded.

"Exactly," Edward murmured with a reassuring smile.

After a moment, Aro let go of Alice's hand and I saw a shadow crossing his unattractive face. What he had seen in Alice's visions was not to his liking, apparently.

"So it appears I have no choice but to let all of you go, Carlisle," he said with a dead tone.

"That's the voice of the reason speaking, Aro," my father-in-law replied with no emotion.

"However, you have to change Vickie yourself before leaving Italy," Aro added then.

"You can't be serious, Aro," Edward said loudly. "What about her husband and kids? She will have to abandon them!"

"I saw in Alice's visions that you already made up a story involving a special hospital in Florence that doesn't even exist, Edward. You just have to tell the professor that the medication given to his wife stopped the age regression but that it stopped the aging as well. And resourceful as this mortal is, I'm sure she can find a way to hide her true nature from her family…"

"That's just sick! Why would you want Vickie to become one of us? Do you really think she will come back to you eventually?" Edward blurted out.

"I know she will… in a couple of decades, when all her loved ones are gone. And regardless, I'm not giving you a choice. Carlisle has to turn Vickie or else I will send Felix and Demetri after her family in retaliation for the time she had me waste today."

"It's all right, Edward. I accept this ultimatum," Vickie said with a barely audible voice.

"Of course you do!" my husband snapped. "Christ, Vickie, you came here to be changed and now you'll have your way! So don't try to look like a victim or Lord help me I will ask Carlisle to give you only a minute dose of venom and you will writhe in agony for a whole week!"

"Whatever it takes, as long as my husband thinks that I received a treatment," our classmate replied bluntly.

At that moment I didn't feel much sympathy for her. I was only relieved that we could take her back to Professor Letourneux _alive_. But then I started to feel apprehensive again because there was no way of predicting how the venom would work on her, although it was not a detail I was going to share with Aro. Maybe he knew that much and thought she was going to die. It was plausible: if indeed she died upon receiving Carlisle's venom, he would not be held responsible for her death. Yet the worst part was that if Vickie didn't survive a vampire's bite, we would have to deal with her husband's wrath. The truth was that even though he had asked us to help his wife, he hadn't wanted for her to go to Italy to be treated. How could he forgive us if all we had done had led to the loss of his beloved in the end?

Aro was already giving orders to Alec to escort us outside. "Goodbye, Carlisle. It was nice to see you and your family again, even though it wasn't under the best circumstances. Don't forget that you can't leave the country with Vickie still human. I will have my people check on her before your departure."

Carlisle didn't turn to respond; he looked overwhelmed. I hoped he realized that Esme had been the key element in the way the confrontation had unfolded. I wanted to hug her when we were back at the hotel. She'd be so happy to see that we were all safe and sound, including Vickie.

**oooooooooo**

Epilogue

Leap of faith

**EPOV**

It was late afternoon when we left the Volturi's fortress. It would be almost dark by the time we arrived in Florence. I would ask all the members of my family to leave the suite we had reserved for a while except for Carlisle and Bella. My father had to take care of Vickie's turning and I needed Bella by my side to prevent me from strangling our classmate on the spot in a fit of rage.

At that moment, while we were on our way back, all confined in the small van, all I wanted was to make Vickie pay for what she had put us through. We were all silent and still, surrounding her with our unearthly presence and staring at her with anger, disbelief or pity depending whose thoughts I read.

Bella – well, her mind was private again but I could guess all the same – _"If it weren't for the promise we made to the professor, I would drop off Vickie right here in the middle of nowhere."_

Rosalie: _"The stupid mortal girl doesn't even seem to realize that if it weren't for Alice's visions, she could have been stuck in Volterra forever. And what mother in her right mind would abandon her family to run into a nest of vampires anyway?"_

Emmett: _"There must be something wrong with that friend of Bella if she was willing to become one of the Volturi's pets."_

Jasper: _"Honestly our intervention today was unnecessary. That Vickie person could have managed a way out all by herself, bold and fearless as she is. Look at her, Edward; she doesn't even need my vibes to relax. What a circus freak…"_

Alice: _"If only I could see the outcome of Vickie's changing… and you know what? Screw the rest of the trip. We provided Esme with enough antiques as it is. I think I want to go to Dartmouth with you and Bella. Surely it's not too late to register, is it?"_

Carlisle: _"Hopefully the venom won't kill her… and hopefully she will be over with the transformation by Friday…"_

Vickie must have felt that it wouldn't be wise to talk to any of us at the moment because she sat motionless and silent like the rest of the crew. I still couldn't hear what she was thinking, but it seemed enough to occupy her without interacting with us. The hour flew by quickly despite the deafening silence in the vehicle and soon we were greeted by Esme and Renesmee in the lobby of the _Grand Hotel Mediterraneo_.

I elected to be the one to tell my mother about Aro's ultimatum. "We managed to set Vickie free, but Aro wants Carlisle to change her before we leave the country. If we don't comply, he'll send Felix and Demetri after her family."

Esme's eyes opened wider in shock.

"Oh dear! That's not what we expected by coming here…" She then turned to face Vickie, glowering. "Do you have any idea of the lies we had to tell your husband, Miss Villeneuve? Do you know where he thinks you are right now?"

"No I don't. But whatever you told him, if it prevents him from coming after me, I owe you big time, Esme," Vickie replied softly, trying to defuse my mother.

"Vickie doesn't seem to realize that we're all pissed off at her behavior, Mom. Or maybe she doesn't care since she's going to get what she wants in the end," I stated coldly.

"That's not true, Edward, I…"

"Shut the hell up, Vickie!" I snapped before addressing my brothers and sisters, "Emmett and Rosalie, I'm sorry you came all the way here to rescue a selfish and manipulative girl who could have gotten us all killed with her reckless attitude. If you want to go back home right away I don't blame you. Alice, it is my understanding that you want to come back home as well, so we'll see you soon no matter what you decide to do for now…"

"Is that true, Alice?" Bella interrupted, momentarily all joyful. "You're not returning to your antique road trip?"

"I've been missing you, Bella. And I'd really like to attend Dartmouth with you and Edward," Alice replied matter-of-factly.

"That would be so cool! On top of the support and help you and Jasper provided us with today. And don't roll your eyes. You know you saved the day once again with your visions…" Bella trailed off.

Alice turned to me, more serious. "Jasper and I are not leaving tonight, Edward, and neither are Emmett and Rose. We're going shopping with Esme and Nessie and we need our mates to repel the local male population, if you know what I mean. It's too bad Bella doesn't want to accompany us, though."

"Edward and I need to talk to Vickie, Alice," Bella sighed.

It was true, however it was not the only reason; Bella still didn't give a damn about shopping, especially at the moment. Alice wasn't fooled and she didn't insist. If Bella was on the same page as I was regarding our classmate, she was bitter and dejected. I had the impression I had been betrayed and I was mad at myself for my lack of detachment toward Vickie. And yet I shouldn't feel this way because all I did was try to please my wife. If only the former math teacher could prove us wrong and show us that she was not genuinely careless and insensitive, that she was just putting an act of her own…

A few minutes later, Carlisle, Bella, Vickie and I were settled in one of the most sumptuous suites of the hotel. My father started to explain, "Vickie, Professor Letourneux thinks you are in a hospital that specializes in the treatment of genetic disorders."

Vickie said nothing, she just nodded.

"If we don't come up with some encouraging news by Friday, he will take a flight to Florence to stay by your side in a hospital that doesn't exist."

Upon hearing the lie we had been forced to tell her husband, Vickie replied, "Okay, Carlisle, I see your point and your concern. You think I should have discussed this with my husband before going to the Volturi and you're right. But I'm not that good a liar and I don't think I would have found a logical explanation as to why I needed to go to Europe. You probably saved me a catastrophic argument with my husband, so thank you for what you did. And I also mean for rescuing me from the Volturi. I honestly didn't know how dangerous they were, I'm sorry…"

"If you'd listened to me instead of running off, you wouldn't have to be sorry now!" I responded with clenched teeth.

But at least Vickie was thanking us for saving her. And she was repentant. She went on, "We don't want Alain to show up here because he wouldn't find the hospital, right? But if you poison me tonight, Carlisle, I will be changed by Friday. Bella told me the transformation takes two days."

Of course Bella had told Vickie the specifics of the turning. Well she knew what to expect, then. Although it was not that simple.

"Vickie," I sighed to give me the time to choose my words carefully, "Bella was an exception. She was extremely lucky that her change was complete in only forty-eight hours. It might be much longer for you. We don't know how it's going to work with your blood and your genetic mutation. In fact, we don't know if it's going to work at all."

"You mean I could die?" Vickie asked with a broken voice, at last grasping the consequence of her request.

"Not necessarily," Carlisle answered, "but you could stay human instead of being turned."

"If it were the case, at least we could tell her husband there was no cure and he wouldn't blame us," Bella remarked.

She didn't want to talk to Vickie directly. Our classmate would have to work harder to regain my wife's esteem.

"I can't step back anyway. Aro has been more than clear about that. So let's do it. I'm ready."

"I will have to gag you and tie you to the bed, Vickie. Otherwise your screams will alert the other clients of the hotel and we might be summoned to leave the place. Do you understand what it means?" Carlisle questioned.

"It means that I will writhe in pain. Edward said that much earlier."

"Vickie," Bella finally addressed her, "in case the venom kills you, is there something you want us to tell Alain, Ian and Joel?"

"Just tell them that all the stupid things I did, I did for them because I love them more than my life."

Carlisle looked at me more intensely. He felt guilty and ashamed for what he was going to do, and all the more so because he didn't have morphine with him.

"Don't bother about that," I just told him.

Bella and I went to sit in the living room part of the suite. There was really no way to know how long Vickie would be burning from inside and squirming in agony in the bed we had prepared for her. We could only hope that if she needed to scream, the gag Carlisle used would muffle the sounds. He was now telling her he was going to bite her at many places for the venom to invade her body more rapidly. She was lying quietly in the bed, accepting her fate peacefully no matter what it would be. Bella, on the other hand, looked very tense.

"Are you sure you want to witness Vickie's transformation, love?" I asked her.

"If you're staying, so am I," she murmured, resting her head on my chest. I kissed her hair and stroked her spine to make her relax.

"It's done," Carlisle said a minute later, joining us and sitting on the other couch.

Then the wait started… and so did the screams. We could hear the young woman trying to swear through the gag and I was glad Bella didn't speak French, because Vickie's vocabulary was surprisingly crude. Sometimes Carlisle would go check on her to look for the slightest change but there was nothing to report except that she was obviously suffering a great deal. And then, after a while, I began to notice that her heart was not beating slowly anymore. I approached her and saw that she had closed her eyes. Yes, she was definitely in a lot of pain, for tears were running down her cheeks non stop.

After an hour, something else happened, something unforeseen: I was able to hear Vickie's thoughts at last. And what she was thinking, aside the fact that she couldn't survive so much pain any longer, made me feel mortified. She was imagining she was with her kids and she was apologizing for abandoning them, if only for two days. She was telling them that she had met some very caring folks who were so compassionate that they had wanted to help her despite her annoying attitude and her unspeakable actions. She was so appreciative of what they had done for her that she was crying with gratitude.

I was utterly dumbfounded as I sat by Bella's side.

"What's wrong, Edward?" she asked worriedly.

"There's nothing wrong, Bella. On the contrary, I think the venom is helping Vickie somehow. I can read her mind now."

Bella's face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Oh gosh, Edward! That's great news!"

"Yes, Bella," Carlisle confirmed, "it seems that Vickie's body is in some kind of mutation as we speak."

At ten p.m., three hours after Vickie had been bitten, my father remarked, "The others are back in the other suite. You two should go kiss Nessie goodnight."

Bella and I walked to the door at human pace. If we had ghosted out of the room we wouldn't have noticed that the woman lying in the bed didn't look like Vickie anymore. Well, not exactly anyway. Bella voiced her surprise by cursing out loud.

"Holy sh…!"

"Unbelievable!" I shouted. "Come see for yourself, Carlisle!"

The next second my father was staring at the stranger in the bed. Only it wasn't really a stranger: it was Vickie looking forty instead of twenty. It was what Professor Letourneux's wife should have looked like in the first place if she hadn't been poisoned six years ago. She didn't seem in pain anymore and she had reopened her eyes. Carlisle removed the gag so she could speak and loosened the straps he had used to tie her to the bed earlier.

"Is there something wrong with me, Edward?" Vickie asked with a voice filled with dread. "Why are you looking at me like I was a monster?"

"You don't look like a monster, Vickie," Bella said. "You look like you could be my mom."

"Are you still in pain?" Carlisle questioned.

"I was in a lot of pain for about an hour, Doctor Cullen. But it's all gone now."

"But you were still crying fifteen minutes ago," I said, confused.

"I think I fell asleep and I was dreaming of my children. In my dream I was crying because they didn't recognize me when I came back to them."

"Well, Vickie, you should prepare yourself because that might happen for real," I warned her.

"What do you mean, Edward?"

"Go take a look at yourself in the bathroom mirror. Bella is right, you could pass for her mom now," I replied with a smile.

Vickie jumped off of the bed and rushed to the bathroom. We heard her shriek in contentment, and then she thanked the Lord repeatedly, "Merci mon Dieu! Merci mon Dieu! Merci mon Dieu!"

"It's not the Lord that you should thank, Miss Villeneuve," I pointed out.

She came out of the bathroom and next she was trying to hug both Bella and I all at once. "I must thank you both for agreeing to help me even after I was rude to you and asked you to mind your own business."

"We did it mostly for your husband, Vickie," I admitted. "He was sinking into depression and we couldn't let that happen. He's too good a teacher to lose him."

"Ahem!" Carlisle said behind her. He was holding out his cell phone. "Your husband wants to talk to you, Vickie."

She took the phone and put it to her ear. "Guess what, Alain! The doctors at the hospital found the right medication for me and they were able to reverse my condition. I'm cured, and I'm prettier than ever!"

And with that factual statement being said, she giggled like a little girl, which reminded me that my daughter was waiting for me in the other room. We went to meet her and she jumped in my arms. While I was telling her a bedtime story, I could hear Vickie across the wall. She was talking to her little boys, promising she was never to leave them again. I smiled even wider at Renesmee because I knew that it was the truth.

**ooo The end ooo  
**

**More than eight months went by since I started this story. I hope you had as much pleasure reading it as I had writing it.**

**Thanks to LadyMacKenzie who offered to help me with the editing in the first place.**

**And a special thanks to my other beta Just4ALE for her precious collaboration.**

**Milk**


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